|  |  HI  ||      ||      ||  ||  |     1|  1     Ml  I  III  I  II  IN  II     li  ill  ill  I  •> 

3  182201962  7827 


LIBRARY 
UNIVE  S.TY  OF 

CALIFORNIA 
SAN  D1ESO 


UNIVERSIT     OF  CALIFORNIA.  SAN  DIEGC 


3  1822019627827 


ECHOES  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR 


General  Geo.  H.  Thomas. 


-Frontispiece. 


Echoes  of  the   Civil  War. 


ECHOES    OF    THE 

CIVIL  WAR  AS  I 

HEAR  THEM 


BY 


MICHAEL  H;  FITCH 
^•^ 

BREVET   COLONEL   OF   VOLUNTEERVlN    THE    CIVIL   WAR 


NEW  YORK 
R.     F.     FENNO     &     COMPANY 

9  AND   1 1    EAST  SIXTEENTH   STREET 
1905 


Copyright,  1905 
By  MICHAEL  H.  FITCH 


/  dedicate  this  volume  to  the 
memory  of  those  soldiers,  living 
or  dead,  of  the  Twenty -first 
Wisconsin  Infantry,  who  did 
the  effective  service  at  the  front. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP. 

I.  THE  RECORD     -  - 

II.  COMPANY  B,  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY 

III.  THE  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY  VOLUNTEERS, 

IV.  THE    ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    TWENTY-FIRST 

WISCONSIN  INFANTRY 

V.  BATTLE  OF  PERRYVILLE 

VI.  COLONEL  BENJAMIN  J.  SWEET 

VII.  FROM  PERRYVILLE  TO  STONE  RIVER 

VIII.  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER 

IX.  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER  (Con tin ued}    - 

X.  FROM  STONE  RIVER  TO  DUG  GAP 

XI.  JUST  BEFORE  CHICKAMAUGA — A  NIGHT  MARCH, 

XII.  CHICKAMAUGA    - 

XIII.  CHICKAMAUGA  (Continue d} 

XIV.  AT  CHATTANOOGA 

XV.  THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN    - 

XVI.  THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN  (Continued}  - 

XVII.  JUST  BEFORE  THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA    - 

XVIII.  THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA 

XIX.  THE  CAROLINA  CAMPAIGN   - 

XX.  BENTONVILLE 

XXI.  FROM  BENTONVILLE  TO  MILWAUKEE 

XXII.  OFFICIAL  STATISTICS   - 

XXIII.  ADUMBRATION  A  FEATURE  OF  REGIMENTATION, 

XXIV.  THE  FOUR  GREAT  UNION  GENERALS 
XXV.  GENERAL  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS 

XXVI.  THE  HUMOR  OF  FIELD  AND  CAMP 

XXVII.  LOOKING  BACK — FORTY  YEARS  AFTER   - 

7 


PAGE 
9 

17 
29 

40 

53 

65 

74 

90 

103 

114 

129 

137 
156 
176 
196 

21  I 

224 
232 

243 
256 
268 
279 
290 
296 

3'4 
329 

343 


Echoes  of  the  Civil  War 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  RECORD 

Epitome  of  Author's  service  in  Sixth  and  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Vol- 
unteers— Certain  omissions  made — Some  differences  between  War 
Department  record  and  State  record — Service  was  continuous  from 
May  10,  1861  to  June  17,  1865 — Industrial  pursuits  more  im- 
portant than  military  services — The  necessity  for  maintaining  a 
military  and  naval  establishment,  even  in  a  republican  govern- 
ment— The  justification  of  volunteer  service  in  the  Civil  War. 

ONE  day  several  years  ago,  an  ex-officer  of  volunteers  in 
the  Civil  War  laid  upon  my  desk  a  slip  containing  the  follow- 
ing memoranda,  viz. :  — 

"  Entered  service  as  sergeant-major  Sixth  Wisconsin  Volun- 
teer Infantry,  July  16,  1861  ;  commissioned  first  lieutenant 
Company  D,  October  23,  1861 ;  appointed  adjutant,  April 
14,  1862  ;  left  state  for  Washington,  D.  C.,  July  28,  1861 ; 
at  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  until  August  3d,  thence  moved 
towards  Washington  and  camped  on  Meridian  Hill ;  attached 
to  King's  brigade,  division  of  the  Potomac,  August  to  Octo- 
ber, 1 86 1 ;  King's  brigade,  McDowell's  division,  Army  of  the 
Potomac  to  March,  1862;  first  brigade,  King's  third  divi- 
sion, McDowell's  first  army  corps,  Army  of  Potomac  to  April ; 
third  brigade,  King's  division,  department  Rappahannock 

9 


IO  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

to  June ;  fourth  brigade,  first  division,  third  corps,  Army  of 
Virginia,  to  July,  1 862. 

SERVICE 

"  Duty  in  defense  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  until  March,  1862; 
advance  on  Manassas,  Virginia,  March  loth  to  i5th ;  ad- 
vance on  Falmouth,  April  pth  to  ipth;  Falmouth,  April 
23d ;  McDowell's  advance  on  Richmond,  May  25th  to  29111 ; 
operation  against  Jackson,  June  ist  to  2ist;  at  Falmouth 
until  July;  resigned  July  17,  1862. 

"  Appointed  and  commissioned  adjutant  Twenty-first 
Wisconsin  Volunteer  Infantry,  July  18,  1862;  pro- 
moted major  of  regiment,  December  19,  1862,  and  lieu- 
tenant-colonel, November  i,  1864,  to  date  from  March 
24,  1864 ;  brevetted  colonel,  United  States  volunteers, 
March  13,  1865,  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  dur- 
ing the  war. 

"Regiment  organized  at  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  and  mus- 
tered into  service,  September  5,  1862  ;  ordered  to  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  September  nth,  thence  to  Covington  and  Louisville, 
Kentucky. 

"Attached  to  twenty-eighth  brigade,  third  division,  Army 
of  the  Ohio,  September,  1862;  twenty-eighth  brigade,  third 
division,  first  corps,  Army  of  Ohio  to  November ;  third  bri- 
gade, first  division,  centre  Army  of  Cumberland  to  January, 
1863;  second  brigade,  first  division,  fourteenth  corps  to 
October,  1863 ;  third  brigade,  first  division,  fourteenth 
corps  to  May,  1864;  first  brigade,  first  division,  fourteenth 
corps  to  June,  1865. 


THE  RECORD  II 

SERVICE 

"  Pursuit  of  Bragg  to  Crab  Orchard,  Kentucky,  October  i 
to  15,  1862;  battle  of  Perryville,  October  8th ;  guard  duty 
at  Mitchelville  until  December  yth,  and  duty  at  Nashville, 
Tennessee  until  December  26th ;  action  at  Jefferson,  Decem- 
ber 3oth;  battle  of  Stone  River,  December  31,  1862,  and 
January  i  to  3,  1863 ;  duty  at  Murfreesboro  until  June;  de- 
tached from  regiment  and  duty  as  inspector,  first  division, 
fourteenth  corps,  April,  1863,  to  February,  1864;  Tullahoma 
campaign,  June  24  to  30,  1863  ;  Hoover's  Gap,  25th  to 
26th  ;  occupation  of  Tullahoma,  July  ist ;  Elk  River,  July 
3d ;  Chattanooga  campaign,  August  to  November ;  action 
at  Dug  Gap,  Georgia,  September  nth;  Crawfish  Springs, 
September  i8th;  battle  of  Chickamauga,  September  igth  to 
2oth  ;  Rossville  Gap,  September  2ist;  siege  of  Chattanooga, 
September  24th  to  November  23d ;  battles  of  Chattanooga, 
November  23d  to  25th ;  Lookout  Mountain,  November  23d 
to  24th ;  Mission  Ridge,  November  25th ;  Ringold,  Georgia, 
November  2yth;  reconnaissance  of  Dalton,  Georgia,  Febru- 
ary 22  to  23,  1864 ;  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  February  23d  to 
25th;  Buzzard  Roost,  February  25th  to  2yth  ;  Atlanta  cam- 
paign, May  to  September ;  Tunnell  Hill,  May  yth ;  Rocky 
Face  Ridge,  May  8th  to  nth  ;  Dalton,  May  i2th;  battle  of 
Resacca,  May  i3th  to  i5th ;  Kingston,  May  ipth;  battles 
about  Dallas,  Pumpkin  Vine  Creek,  and  Alatoona  Hills, 
May  25th  to  June  4th ;  New  Hope  Church,  May  2pth  and 
30th;  operation  against  Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  gth  to 
July  2d  ;  Pine  Mountain,  June  i4th  ;  Lost  Mountain,  June 
I5th  to  i  yth;  Big  Shanty,  June  ijth;  Pine  Knob,  June 


12  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

ipth  ;  assault  on  Kenesaw,  June  27th;  Nichajack  Creek, 
July  4th;  Vinings  Station,  July  5th;  Chattahoochee  River, 
July  6th  to  1 7th;  Peach  Tree  Creek,  July  ipth  and  2oth; 
Siege  of  Atlanta,  July  22d  to  August  25th;  Utoy  Creek, 
August  5th  to  7th ;  flank  movement  on  Jonesboro,  August 
25th  to  3oth;  battle  of  Jonesboro,  August  jist  to  Septem- 
ber ist;  Lovejoy  Station,  September  2d  to  6th;  pursuit  of 
Hood  into  Alabama,  October  ist  to  26th;  March  to  the 
Sea,  November  i5th  to  December  loth;  Milledgeville,  No- 
vember 2jd  and  24th ;  Montieth  Swamp,  December  7th  to 
9th;  siege  of  Savannah,  December  loth  to  2ist;  campaign 
of  the  Carolinas,  January  to  April,  1865;  Fayetteville, 
North  Carolina,  March  nth;  Averysboro,  March  1 6th ; 
battle  of  Bentonville,  March  ipth  to  2 ist;  occupation  of 
Goldsboro,  March  24th,  and  of  Raleigh,  April  i3th  ;  Ben- 
nett's House,  April  26th;  surrender  of  Johnston;  march  to 
Washington,  D.  C.,  by  the  way  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  April 
2pth  to  May  i7th;  Grand  Review,  May  24th;  mustered 
out,  June  8,  1865." 

I  read  it  over  carefully  and  asked  him  where  he  obtained 
his  data.  He  answered,  "  In  the  War  Department  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  That  is  your  official  record  of  service  in  the 
Civil  War."  I  was  somewhat  surprised,  although  I  knew  in 
a  general  way  that  some  record  of  service  of  every  officer 
and  soldier  had  been  kept ;  yet  my  service  had  made  so  little 
impression  on  my  own  mind  that  when  confronted  with  so 
minute  a  description  of  it,  I  was  not  only  astonished  but  elated 
that  it  seemed  to  read  well. 

The  following  omissions  had  been  made  in  the  record, 


THE    RECORD  13 

viz. :  "  Commanded  his  regiment  on  the  Atlanta  campaign 
from  July  i,  1864,  and  on  the  march  to  the  sea.  Through 
the  Carolinas,  he  commanded  one  wing  of  the  first  brigade, 
first  division,  fourteenth  army  corps,  consisting  of  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  Forty-second  Indiana,  and  One 
Hundred-and-fourth  Illinois.  He  commanded  these  three 
regiments  in  the  battle  of  Bentonville.  Assigned  March 
28,  1865,  to  the  command  of  second  brigade,  first  division, 
fourteenth  army  corps." 

I  was  glad  enough  to  enlist  very  early  in  1861,  and  was 
equally  glad  when  the  war  ended  in  the  triumph  of  the 
Union  arms,  to  be  honorably  discharged.  For  a  great 
many  years  after  the  war,  I  paid  little  attention  to  it.  The 
subsequent  publication  of  the  "  Official  Records  of  the  Re- 
bellion," by  act  of  Congress,  however,  greatly  stimulated 
my  interest  in  the  details.  The  above  personal  record  com- 
mences with  the  muster  into  the  United  States  service  as 
sergeant-major,  on  July  16,  1861.  But  I  had  enlisted  at 
Prescott,  Wisconsin,  in  April,  and  was  mustered  into  the 
state  service  with  the  Prescott  Guards  as  related  hereafter 
from  May  10,  1861.  The  United  States  muster-in  rolls 
show  the  latter  as  the  date  of  enlistment,  and  I  drew  pay 
from  that  date.  My  service  was  continuous  until  June  17, 
1865,  the  date  of  final  payment  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin. 
Our  discharges  had  been  made  out  and  dated  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  June  8th.  The  record,  however,  shows  that  I 
was  discharged  from  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  Infantry  on  July 
17,  1862,  but  this  was  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  me  to 
accept  a  commission  as  first  lieutenant  and  adjutant  of  the 


14  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Infantry.  The  latter  commission  is 
dated  July  18,  1862,  and  I  went  directly  from  the  Sixth 
Wisconsin,  then  in  camp  at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  to 
Madison,  Wisconsin,  received  the  commission  from  the 
hands  of  the  Governor  and  reported  at  once  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  then  at  Fon  du  Lac. 
It  was  very  soon  moved  to  Oshkosh. 

This  military  service  in  the  volunteer  army  from  May  10, 
1861,  to  June  17,  1865,  during  a  very  active  war  of  great 
magnitude,  was  an  exceedingly  important  episode  in  my 
life,  as  it  was  in  the  life  of  every  one  who  served  in  that 
war.  Its  details  cannot  be  forgotten  by  me.  The  pages  of 
this  book  tell  in  a  desultory  way  some  of  these  experiences 
and  some  observations  that  occur  to  me  as  derivable  there- 
from, yet  I  do  not  for  a  moment  delude  myself  with  the 
idea  that  this  epoch  was  the  most  important  in  my  life.  It 
was  not.  Nor  do  I  claim  that  my  services  were  of  special 
importance  to  my  country.  There  were  younger  men  who 
made  much  more  of  a  record,  yet  my  services  make  now 
sufficient  impression  on  my  mind  to  think  that  my  descend- 
ants may  take  some  pride  in  such  service.  Hence  this 
book. 

I  strongly  believe  that  the  pursuits  of  peaceful  industry 
are  far  preferable  to  those  of  war,  and  the  achievements  of 
civil  life  are  invariably  of  more  lasting  importance  to  the 
individual  and  also  to  one's  country.  I  believe  in  the  old 
Anglo-Saxon  preference  for  the  peaceful  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  and  industrialism  in  general,  as  opposed  to  militarism. 
When  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  Old  England  were  conquered  by 


THE   RECORD  15 

the  Normans,  they  wisely  let  their  conquerors  do  the  gov- 
erning and  fighting,  and  stuck  to  their  farms,  paying  the 
taxes  required  of  them.  In  time  they  thus  conquered  the 
Normans.  Their  descendants  to-day  possess  England. 
The  descendants  of  these  same  Anglo-Saxons  in  the  United 
States,  when  the  southern  people,  the  most  of  whom  were 
the  descendants  of  those  same  Normans,  threatened  the 
integrity  of  the  Union,  rose  en  masse  in  1861,  and  perse- 
vered in  pure  awkwardness,  until  by  force  of  numbers 
and  at  the  last  with  some  acquired  skill,  succeeded  in 
conquering  peace.  When  the  necessity  for  war  ended, 
still  believing  with  their  forefathers  that  industrial  pur- 
suits, not  war,  were  the  true  instruments  by  which  na- 
tions are  built,  they  quietly  dropped  the  uniform  and 
accoutrements  of  war,  and  took  up  again  their  plows, 
hammers  and  planes. 

As  long,  however,  as  nations  will  go  to  war,  it  is  necessary 
for  this  government  to  maintain  a  certain  disciplined  force, 
both  in  the  army  and  the  navy.  But  only  so  far  as  it  is 
necessary  to  defend  the  people  in  their  peaceful  homes  and 
pursuits,  not  for  conquest  and  acquisition.  New  territory 
should  be  acquired  by  contract  only  entered  into  freely  by 
the  interested  parties. 

Nothing  in  the  history  of  governments  was  ever  more 
praiseworthy  or  imperative  than  the  military  defense 
of  the  integrity  of  the  Union  by  the  volunteer  army  in 
the  Civil  War.  The  instincts  of  the  northern  people 
were  right  when  they  laid  aside  for  the  time  being,  all 
other  matters  and  gave  four  years  of  valuable  time,  and 


1 6  ECHOES    OF    THE   CIVIL   WAR 

three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  lives  to  preserve  union 
and  liberty.  I  am  glad  that  I  took  an  humble  part  therein, 
and  therefore  cherish  some  pride  in  the  record  of  that 
service. 


CHAPTER  II 
COMPANY  B,  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY 

A  company  of  volunteers  raised  in  the  sparsely  settled  region  con- 
tiguous to  Prescott,  Pierce  County,  Wisconsin — The  manner  in 
which  it  was  done — The  patriotism  of  the  pioneer  settlers — The 
personnel  of  the  company — Sworn  into  the  State  service,  June 
10,  1861,  by  Major  B.  J.  Sweet— The  departure,  June  28th,  for  the 
rendezvous,  Madison,  Wisconsin — It  becomes  Company  B,  Sixth 
Wisconsin  Infantry — Its  first  service  in  Milwaukee  at  the  Bank 
Riot — The  Author,  July  3d,  made  Sergeant-Major — The  subse- 
quent career  of  the  company  briefly  given. 

THE  region  in  northwestern  Wisconsin,  bounded  on  the 
west  and  northwest  by  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Croix 
rivers,  and  contiguous  thereto,  in  1861  was  sparsely  settled. 
There  was  no  railroad.  Transportation  was  made  either  by 
steamboat  on  the  water  or  by  horses  on  the  land.  These 
factors  made  the  raising  of  a  volunteer  company  for  service, 
an  arduous  task.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  first  call  for 
seventy-five  thousand  volunteers,  the  quota  of  Wisconsin 
was  one  regiment.  At  least,  only  one  regiment  of  three 
months'  men  left  the  state  under  that  call.  That  regiment,  I 
believe,  was  largely  made  up  of  militia  companies  that  had 
been  previously  organized  and  equipped.  Yet  active  re- 
cruiting commenced  at  once  all  over  the  state  in  the  latter 
part  of  April,  1861.  I  presume  every  company  that  was 
recruited  in  any  part  of  the  state  at  that  time,  made  effort 
to  get  into  that  three  months'  regiment.  The  sentiment 

17 


1 8  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

then  was  quite  universal  that  three  months  would  close  the 
war.  Hence,  whoever  failed  to  become  a  part  of  the  first 
regiment  would  see  no  service  and  receive  no  military  glory. 
A  mass  meeting  was  held  at  once  in  our  town,  Prescott, 
Pierce  County.  Several  addresses  were  made.  Patriotism 
was  effervescent,  and  thirty  young  men  signed  the  roll  of  the 
Prescott  Guards.  We  at  once  notified  the  Governor  that 
we  would  like  to  be  a  part  of  the  troops  about  to  be  called. 
But  at  that  time,  as  we  were  informed,  enough  companies 
had  been  offered  to  fill  four  regiments.  As  only  one  regi- 
ment was  called  for  three  months,  our  little  squad  out  on  the 
northwestern  border  had  very  little  show.  This  did  not 
discourage  this  little  patriotic  band.  They  began  drilling 
every  day,  studied  the  tactics,  erected  a  liberty  pole  mounted 
by  a  bayonet,  pointing  south,  with  the  stars  and  stripes 
floating  from  its  top.  The  fiery  spirit  of  '76,  as  we  under- 
stood it,  was  thoroughly  aroused.  By  April  3oth,  a  full 
company  was  enlisted.  Daniel  J.  Dill,  a  prominent  mer- 
chant who  had  military  tastes  and  who  afterwards  became 
captain  of  (he  company,  went  up  the  river  to  Hastings,  Min- 
nesota, and  down  the  river  to  various  towns,  in  pursuit  of 
recruits.  Rollin  P.  Converse  and  myself  took  a  pair  of 
horses  and  a  buggy  and  started  into  the  back  country. 
That  ride  across  the  prairie  and  through  the  woods  for  sev- 
eral days,  was  novel  and  exceedingly  interesting.  We  vis- 
ited, not  only  the  towns,  but  every  farm.  At  one  town,  I 
think  River  Falls,  we  met  recruiting  officers  from  Hudson, 
the  county  seat  of  the  adjoining  county  of  St.  Croix,  on  the 
same  errand.  We  held  a  joint  meeting  at  night  at  which 


COMPANY    B,    SIXTH    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  19 

several  addresses  were  made.  We  found  western  pioneer 
hospitality  everywhere.  Every  rugged  backwoodsman, 
whether  American,  German  or  Norwegian,  was  full  of  pa- 
triotism. Indignation  at  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  was 
genuine  and  universal.  The  roads,  especially  through  the 
woods,  were  in  a  wretched  condition.  It  rained,  and  the 
mud  was  frightful.  One  evening  in  a  lonely  spot  in  the 
primeval  forest,  a  singletree  of  the  buggy  broke.  But  there 
stood,  by  the  side  of  the  road,  a  sturdy  pioneer  with  an 
axe  on  his  shoulder.  In  five  minutes  he  had  cut  a  hickory 
withe,  twisted  it  into  a  pliable  rope,  tied  it  around  the 
broken  tree  in  the  most  skilful  manner,  and  sent  us  on  our 
way  rejoicing,  with  a  buggy  stronger  than  it  was  before. 
Wherever  we  stopped  over  night  the  host  would  refuse  pay 
for  our  entertainment.  The  mother  and  daughters  would 
look  after  our  comfort,  even  drying  our  apparel  when  wet 
with  rain.  Everywhere  we  were  bidden  Godspeed  in  our 
patriotic  efforts.  How  many  recruits  we  procured  on  this 
trip,  I  have  now  forgotten.  But  some  walked  to  Prescott 
for  miles  to  enlist.  The  muster  rolls  of  the  company  show 
that  almost  every  township  in  Pierce  County  was  represented 
among  its  members.  There  were  no  better  soldiers  in  the 
army  than  many  of  these  backwoods  farmer  boys.  A  num- 
ber of  them  never  returned.  We  had  some  enlistments 
from  far  up  the  St.  Croix  River  among  the  lumbermen  and 
loggers.  Captain  Dill  was  successful  in  getting  recruits 
from  Hastings,  Menominee  and  other  towns.  A.  C.  Ellis, 
a  bright-eyed  boy  with  curly  black  hair  brought  quite  a 
number  from  Menominee.  Before  the  first  of  May,  between 


2O  ECHOES   OF  THE   CIVIL   WAR 

ninety  and  one  hundred  had  taken  the  oath  of  service  and 
allegiance  to  the  United  States.  I  administered  the  oath  to 
each  one  who  signed  the  enlistment.  D.  J.  Dill  was  elected 
captain.  Two  alleged  Mexican  war  veterans  were  made 
lieutenants.  I  was  appointed  first  sergeant.  The  Governor 
was  notified  that  we  were  ready  for  service.  But,  not  only 
the  first,  but  the  second,  third,  fourth  and  fifth  regiments 
of  volunteer  infantry  were  organized  at  Madison  without  our 
company  being  assigned.  There  was  great  uncertainty  for 
some  time  after  this  about  being  called  into  service.  The 
men  went  back  to  their  homes,  and  some  of  them  enlisted  in 
other  companies.  We  thought  the  rebellion  would  be  over 
before  our  chance  would  come.  However,  by  May  loth, 
we  were  informed  that  we  were  the  sixth  company  in  the 
sixth  regiment. 

I  see  by  letters  written  at  this  time  that  military  service 
had  the  same  attractions  for  me  that  it  always  has  for  the 
average  young  man.  I  was  full  of  enthusiasm  and  hyper- 
bolical patriotism.  But  the  whole  people  were  in  the  same 
condition.  May  i2th,  the  steamboat,  Northern  Belle,  went 
down  with  a  large  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  had 
been  visiting  the  first  Minnesota  regiment  at  Fort  Snelling, 
where  it  was  quartered.  Flags  were  streaming  and  the  band 
was  playing  "  America."  On  that  afternoon,  those  of  our 
company  who  resided  at  Prescott,  drilled  all  the  afternoon, 
using  sporting  rifles  and  shotguns  for  muskets.  That  day 
also,  we  received  news  of  a  conflict  at  St.  Louis.  "  How 
gladly  would  all  the  companies  in  the  northwest  march  for 
some  active  field  !  "  I  wrote  on  that  same  day. 


COMPANY    B,   SIXTH    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  21 

On  May  26th,  I  wrote,  "The  general  government  has 
required  two  regiments  from  this  state.  It  can  have  a 
dozen.  The  death  of  Colonel  Ellsworth  touched  the  heart 
of  every  patriot." 

On  June  loth,  the  Prescott  Guards  were  sworn  into  the 
state  service  to  date  from  May  loth.  The  legislature  had 
provided  for  the  mustering  into  the  state  service,  six  regi- 
ments, including  the  one  then  in  the  three  months'  service 
of  the  United  States.  We  slipped  into  the  last  one.  When 
we  received  notice  that  we  would  be  mustered  on  June  loth, 
there  was  scurrying  throughout  the  district  to  get  them  to- 
gether. Converse  and  I  took  a  buggy  and  hurried  again 
through  the  back  townships.  Captain  Dill  went  in  another 
direction.  Telegrams  were  sent  to  Hastings  and  Menomi- 
nee.  When  Major  B.  J.  Sweet,  the  recruiting  officer  finally 
came,  we  could  count  only  sixty-four  available  men  on  the 
rolls.  We  were  required  to  have  eighty-three.  The  captain 
was  still  out  recruiting,  when  at  nine  o'clock  the  men  had  to 
form  in  line  for  inspection  and  drill.  I  formed  them  on  the 
prairie,  and  lo  !  there  were  seventy  in  line.  We  marched 
into  a  large  hall.  Major  Sweet  asked  me  to  act  as  his  clerk. 
He  and  I  examined  each  man  separately  in  an  adjoining  room. 
It  took  all  day,  and  then  he  swore  in  seventy-five.  New  re- 
cruits were  coming  in  all  the  time.  The  major  said  he  must 
return  to  Madison  the  next  day,  the  nth.  At  noon,  the 
captain  arrived  with  six  more,  leaving  only  two  to  make  the 
minimum.  As  Major  Sweet  stepped  on  the  boat  to  go,  he 
swore  in  the  eighty-second  man,  and  empowered  the  captain 
to  swear  in  the  eighty-third  when  he  was  found.  He  wa§ 


22  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

soon  found.  They  were  all  sworn  for  three  years  or  during 
the  war.  It  took  hard  and  persistent  effort  to  raise  this  com- 
pany in  a  district  so  sparsely  settled. 

On  June  ijth,  I  wrote  on  a  letter  sheet  that  had  at  the 
top  a  half  globe  surrounded  by  waves  of  water.  A  flag 
floated  in  the  breeze  from  the  pole  of  this  globe,  and  on  the 
globe  the  capital  letters,  "Our  Country,"  all  printed  in 
green  ink.  I  wonder  if  there  was  any  significance  in  the 
color  ?  It  was  quite  usual  in  those  days  to  have  patriotic 
emblems  all  over  the  envelopes.  The  different  companies 
of  our  regiment  were  called  by  the  Governor  to  rendezvous 
at  Camp  Randall,  Madison,  under  date  of  June  25th.  In 
the  meantime  the  Prescott  Guards  were  drilling  daily  on  the 
level  prairie  adjoining  Prescott,  on  the  high  banks  overlook- 
ing the  Mississippi.  We  adopted  as  a  temporary  uniform, 
black  pants,  red  shirts,  and  gray  caps.  The  girls  of  Pres- 
cott presented  us  with  white  "  Havelocks."  After  a  few 
weeks'  drill  the  company  presented  a  very  respectable  ap- 
pearance in  this  uniform.  On  the  28th  of  June,  the  com- 
pany boarded  a  steamboat  at  the  Prescott  wharf.  The  whole 
people  of  the  town  were  on  the  wharf  to  see  them  off.  Amid 
speech-making  and  affectionate  farewells,  they  started  on  a 
long  campaign,  many  of  them  never  to  see  their  homes  again. 

Landing  at  La  Crosse  and  taking  cars,  they  soon  reported 
at  Camp  Randall,  Madison,  Wisconsin.  They  became 
Company  B  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  and  the  left 
company  when  the  regiment  was  in  line.  Company  and 
regimental  drill  was  kept  up  daily.  The  state  issued  them 
arms  and  gray  uniforms.  In  a  few  days  after  arriving  at 


COMPANY    B,    SIXTH    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  23 

Camp  Randall,  a  disturbance  occurred  in  Milwaukee.  This 
was  a  rising  of  the  German  people  of  the  city  against  the 
banks  on  account  of  some  methods  adopted  by  the  banks  in 
regard  to  receiving  state  bank  bills  for  deposit.  It  is  com- 
monly called  the  "  Bank  Riot."  The  Governor  was  called 
on  for  troops  and  two  companies  were  sent  from  Camp  Ran- 
dall. One  company  was  ours  and  one  belonged  to  the  Fifth 
Wisconsin  Infantry,  then  in  the  same  camp.  We  remained 
in  Milwaukee  two  or  three  days,  but  fortunately  were  not 
required  to  fire  our  muskets,  although  called  out  suddenly 
one  afternoon.  The  rioters  simply  marched  through  the 
streets  and  then  faded  away.  This  was  the  first  service  of 
the  company. 

On  July  3,  1861,  I  was  appointed  by  the  colonel  of  the 
regiment,  sergeant-major.  This  severed  my  connection  with 
Company  B,  and  took  me  to  the  headquarters  of  the  regi- 
ment. The  sergeant-major  is  assistant  to  the  adjutant  and 
the  highest  warrant  officer  of  a  regiment.  I  had  been  first 
sergeant  of  Company  B  from  its  first  organization,  more 
than  two  months  before  this,  and  knew  every  man  by  name. 
I  knew  it  to  be  a  splendid  body  of  men.  They  seemed  to 
return  my  affection  for  them,  because  at  the  election  of  of- 
ficers in  Prescott,  they  came  to  me  in  a  body,  and  offered  to 
elect  me  first  lieutenant.  I  refused  for  two  reasons.  First, 
that  Captain  Dill  had  promised  that  place  to  another  in  pay- 
ment for  a  certain  number  of  recruits,  and  I  would  not  an- 
tagonize the  captain.  Second,  I  was  entirely  unfamiliar 
with  the  drill  or  military  affairs  and  distrusted  my  unmartial 
temperament.  The  latter  reason  I  soon  found  not  to  be 


24  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

tenable.  In  time  I  learned  the  drill  and  acquired  the  habit 
of  command.  My  connection  with  this  company  was  my 
first  military  service,  and  that  to  a  young  man  means  very 
much.  I  therefore  watched  its  career  in  the  war,  and  took 
great  pride  in  its  splendid  record. 

In  1889,  Jerome  A.  Watrous,  then  editing  the  Sunday 
Telegraph  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  published  in  his  paper 
the  following  : 

"  Colonel  Daniel  J.  Dill,  of  Prescott,  spent  last  Sunday 
in  the  city.  He  is  the  assemblyman  from  Pierce  County. 
We  look  back  almost  twenty-eight  years,  and  see  a  tall, 
straight,  soldierly  looking  young  man  of  twenty-nine  years, 
as  he  marched  into  Camp  Randall,  at  the  head  of  one  hun- 
dred strong,  manly  young  men.  It  became  Company  B, 
Sixth  Wisconsin.  In  1862,  the  captain  was  made  colonel 
of  the  Thirtieth  Wisconsin,  with  which  he  served  three 
years.  Colonel  Dill  is  now  about  as  erect  and  fine  looking 
as  he  was  twenty-eight  years  ago,  but  the  gray  hairs  and 
whiskers  tell  the  story  of  passing  years.  What  a  glorious 
company  that  was.  Colonel  Dill's  successor  in  Company  B 
was  Rollin  P.  Converse,  who  was  killed  in  the  Wilderness, 
May  5,  1864.  His  successor  was  W.  W.  Hutchins,  who 
was  killed  at  Weldon  Railroad  in  August,  1864.  Where  is 
Captain  Henry  E.  Smyzer,  who  succeeded  Hutchins  ?  An- 
other member  of  that  glorious  company  was  Arthur  C. 
Ellis,  who  received  a  terrible  wound  at  South  Mountain. 
Until  a  few  years  ago  when  he  died,  Ellis  lived  at  Eau 
Claire  where  he  was  a  lawyer  of  high  rank.  He  had  also 
been  county  judge.  M.  H.  Fitch  was  another  member  of 


COMPANY    B,   SIXTH    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  2$ 

that  company.  He  became  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  sixth 
and  afterwards  lieutenant-colonel  and  brevet  colonel  of  the 
twenty- first.  He  was  United  States  pension  agent  in  this 
city  for  a  time,  but  has  been  a  prominent  citizen  of  Pueblo, 
Colorado,  for  many  years.  Charles  P.  Hyatt — genial,  cour- 
ageous, generous  Hyatt !  He  fought  his  way  to  the  rank 
of  captain  of  Company  E,  and  died  in  1864.  Another  lieu- 
tenant in  Company  B  was  Soloman  B.  Holman,  who  won 
his  straps  by  splendid  fighting  in  thirty  different  battles  and 
skirmishes.  Ex-Lieutenant-Governor  S.  S.  Fifield  made 
two  attempts  to  go  to  war  in  this  company,  but  was  thrown 
out  by  the  surgeon.  One  could  write  columns  about  the 
men  of  that  company  and  its  work." 

I  wrote  to  Major  Watrous  (he  is  now  paymaster  in  the 
regular  army)  at  once  upon  reading  his  article,  as  follows : 
this  is  the  way  it  appeared  in  his  paper : 

"OLD  COMPANY  B" 

Colonel  M.  H.  Fitch  feelingly  refers  to  his  old  company. 
"  DEAR  COLONEL  WATROUS  :  — 

"  Your  late  remarks  in  the  Sunday  Telegraph  upon 
Colonel  D.  J.  Dill  and  Company  B  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin 
have  brought  to  my  mind,  memories  connected  with  that 
glorious  old  company.  General  Bragg  told  me  at  the  re- 
union in  Milwaukee  in  1880,  that  it  was  the  best  company 
of  soldiers  he  ever  saw.  While  I  write,  there  lies  before  me 
the  first  roll  ever  made  of  its  members.  It  was  made  in 
Prescott,  twenty-eight  years  ago,  this  spring.  It  is  on  a 
sheet  of  pprnmon  legal  cap  paper,  and  is  yellow  with  age. 


26  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL  WAR 

Its  caption  is,  <  Roll  of  Prescott  Guards. '  It  yet  shows  the 
pin  holes  made  opposite  the  absentees  from  drills  in  May, 
1861.  These  drills  were  held  on  the  prairie  adjoining  Prts- 
cott,  overlooking  the  Mississippi  River.  I  was  first  sergeant 
until  we  reported  at  Camp  Randall  when  I  was  appointed 
sergeant-major  of  the  sixth  and  was  never  again  connected 
with  the  company,  although  in  the  same  regiment  for  a  year. 
A.  C.  Ellis  was  second  sergeant.  Philip  H.  Collins,  a  Mex- 
ican War  veteran,  was  third  sergeant,  and  R.  P.  Converse, 
fourth  sergeant.  W.  W.  Hutchins  was  only  a  corporal  and 
Henry  E.  Smyzer  a  private.  Ellis  and  the  last  three  all 
became  fine  officers.  Colonel  Dill  speaks  in  the  highest 
terms  of  the  great  qualities  of  Converse,  who  died  of  wounds. 

"  Major  Benjamin  J.  Sweet  came  up  to  Prescott  and  mus- 
tered us  into  the  state  service.  As  an  undress  uniform,  we 
adopted  the  gray  cap,  red  shirt  and  black  pants.  Oh  !  the 
drilling,  the  marching,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  those  days  ! 
Captain  Dill  was  a  natural  soldier — tall,  straight  as  an  arrow 
and  very  commanding.  The  men  all  respected  him,  not 
only  for  his  soldierly  qualities,  but  for  his  kindness,  even 
temper,  and  most  excellent  judgment.  The  first  and  second 
lieutenants  were  both  said  to  have  been  in  the  Mexican 
War,  and  knew  something  about  the  drill.  There  were  no 
stupid  brains  amongst  the  men.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then, 
that  before  July  16,  1861,  the  date  of  muster  into  United 
States  service,  this  company  became  so  mobile  and  well 
drilled  ?  Their  subsequent  career  and  record  proved  that 
they  were  also  heroes  in  war. 

"  The  company  left  the  state  with  ninety-two  members. 


COMPANY    B,    SIXTH    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  2/ 

Of  this  number,  fifty-two  were  killed  and  wounded.  Thir- 
teen became  commissioned  officers — three  colonels  and 
lieutenant-colonels,  and  five  captains.  Some  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  navy,  others  to  the  artillery,  several  promoted 
into  other  regiments,  while  from  time  to  time,  new  recruits 
were  enlisted  until  in  1865,  when  I  visited  the  company  for 
the  last  time,  I  recognized  but  three  or  four  of  the  men 
whose  names  are  on  this  old  roll.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  know  how  many  of  the  original  men  were  mustered  out 
with  their  company  at  the  close  of  the  war  and  I  venture  to 
guess,  not  a  dozen. 

"  As  I  read  over  the  names  of  this  old  roll  each  individual 
face  is  as  plain  to  me  as  it  was  then.  I  wish  that  instead  of 
the  names  being  in  alphabetical  order  they  were  written  as 
the  men  stood  in  line  from  Seymour  W.  Colby  the  tall,  on 
the  right,  to  Tommy  Davis,  the  short,  on  the  left.  Then, 
when  I  held  up  the  roll,  my  imagination  would  see  them  in 
perfect  form,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  the  equal  in  soldierly  qual- 
ities as  they  were,  of  the  same  number,  anywhere  on  the  globe. ' ' 

Company  B,  Sixth  Wisconsin  volunteers  lost  fifty-two 
killed  and  wounded  out  of  ninety-two  originally  mustered 
into  the  United  States  service.  Of  these,  twenty-seven,  or 
more  than  half  were  either  killed  outright  or  died  in  a  short 
time  of  their  wounds.  This  is  not  the  largest  company  loss, 
even  in  the  Sixth  Wisconsin,  but  is  far  above  the  average  and 
more  than  perhaps  any  one  of  a  thousand  regiments  lost 
during  the  war.  It  had  four  different  captains.  One  was 
made  colonel  of  the  Thirtieth  Wisconsin,  two  were  killed  in 
battle.  The  last  captain,  Henry  E.  Smyzer,  who  was  a 


28  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

private  when  the  regiment  was  mustered  in,  was  mustered 
out  with  his  company,  July  14,  1865.  It  had  five  different 
first  lieutenants.  Five  privates  were  transferred  early  to 
Battery  B,  fourth  United  States  Artillery,  Gibbons'  old  bat- 
tery. Eight  deserted.  The  latter  were  outclassed.  The 
pace  was  too  fast  for  them ;  the  fighting  was  too  fierce  for 
these  and  the  remarks  I  make  in  eulogy  of  the  company 
will  always  exclude  these  eight  unfortunates.  A  few  were 
transferred  to  the  navy,  and  after  several  battles  had  been 
fought  some  of  the  wounded  to  the  invalid  corps,  some  to 
the  veteran  reserve  corps,  and  others  discharged  from  time 
to  time  for  wounds  or  disability.  Several  did  not  veteran- 
ize, but  were  discharged  at  the  end  of  their  three  years' 
term,  July  16,  1864.  Two  of  them  became  quartermasters 
of  the  regiment,  and  two  acting  adjutants. 

There  was  perhaps  not  a  rich  man  amongst  the  ninety-two. 
The  most  of  them  were  poor  in  this  world's  goods.  They 
were  generally  small  farmers,  lumbermen,  loggers,  clerks. 
Many  of  them  had  no  permanent  abiding-place.  They 
were  not  members  of  churches;  nor  particularly  distin- 
guished for  morality.  Had  they  remained  in  civil  life,  it  is 
not  at  all  probable  that  one  in  ten  would  have  distinguished 
himself  in  any  way,  and  would  have  gone  down  to  his 
grave,  "unknelled,  unhonored  and  unsung."  But  the  re- 
sult proved  that  in  unselfish  patriotism,  and  true  bravery 
they  were  more  than  rich.  Refined  in  the  terrific  fire  of 
battle,  they  became  immortal  on  the  brightest  pages  of  their 
country's  history.  Cicero  says  that  next  to  love  of  God 
comes  love  of  country. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY  VOLUN- 
TEERS 

The  Author's  service  in  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  Infantry  as  Sergeant 
Major  and  First  Lieutenant — The  difficulty  of  making  a  mere 
automaton  of  the  American  volunteer — The  Fifth  and  Sixth  in 
Camp  Randall  at  the  same  time — Mustered  into  the  United  States 
service,  July  16,  1861,  and  left  the  State  for  the  Potomac,  July 
28th — Arrived  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  August  8th — The  Sixth  be- 
came a  part  of  the  famous  "  Iron  Brigade  " — Lieutenant-Colonel 
Kerr  referred  to — Spent  the  winter  of  1861-2  on  Arlington 
Heights,  opposite  Washington — The  advance  on  Manassas  in 
March,  1862 — Became  part  of  McDowell's  army  of  defense  on 
the  Rappahannock — General  Gibbons  became  Brigade  commander 
— Author  resigned  at  Fredericksburg,  July  17,  1862,  to  become 
Adjutant  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin — The  fine  record  in  the 
war  of  the  Sixth  and  of  the  Iron  Brigade. 

IT  will  be  seen  by  the  official  records  that  my  service  with 
the  Sixth  Wisconsin  Infantry  extended  from  July  16,  1861,  to 
July  17,  1862.  But  the  records  of  the  adjutant-general's 
office  of  Wisconsin  at  Madison  includes  also  the  service  in 
Company  B  from  May  10  to  July  3,  1861,  and  the  service 
as  sergeant-major  from  July  jd  to  July  i6th.  The  service 
of  any  volunteer  regiment  prior  to  its  transfer  to  the  seat  of 
war  is  one  of  organization  and  equipment.  It  is  what  is 
called  in  European  armies,  "Mobilization."  At  Camp 
Randall,  however,  it  included  drilling  and  all  kinds  of  ex- 
ercises necessary  in  eliminating  the  awkwardness  of  the 

29 


3O  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

civilian  and  transforming  him  into  a  military  automaton. 
This  was  perhaps  never  entirely  accomplished  in  our  volun- 
teer army.  After  everything  was  done  that  could  be  done 
to  make  a  model  soldier  of  an  American  volunteer,  there 
was  still  left  a  reserve  of  individuality.  The  inherited  inde- 
pendence characteristic  of  a  sovereign  entity,  one  from 
whom  is  derived  the  smallest  modicum,  perhaps,  of  the 
power  that  rules  in  a  republic,  like  ours,  could  not  be  en- 
tirely eliminated  in  the  soldier  of  the  Civil  War.  As  a  rule 
he  was  as  intelligent  as  his  officers.  He  knew  as  much 
about  the  school  of  the  soldier  and  the  company  drill,  and 
whenever  he  was  promoted  to  a  position  requiring  it,  he  was 
invariably  equal  to  the  command  of  a  regiment,  a  brigade 
or  a  division.  These  facts  did  not  make  him  less  obedient. 
He  was  intelligent  enough  to  perceive  that  success  in  war 
requires  regimentation.  This  means  that  some  must  com- 
mand and  the  others  obey.  However  well  read  or  learned 
in  books  the  private  might  have  been,  if  his  officer,  although 
not  so  learned,  had  the  instincts  and  temperament  of  a  true 
soldier ;  was  brave  and  successful  in  righting  the  enemy,  he 
gave  such  an  officer  absolute  obedience  in  the  proper  rela- 
tion of  a  private  to  an  officer.  But  if  the  officer  happened 
to  be  the  scholar  but  lacked  power  to  command,  and  was 
cowardly,  the  most  illiterate  private,  if  efficient  and  brave, 
soon  forced  such  an  officer  out  of  the  service  by  the  uncon- 
scious expression  of  his  silent  contempt. 

The  Fifth  and  Sixth  Wisconsin  regiments  were  encamped 
in  Camp  Randall  at  the  same  time.  The  arduous  duties  of 
preparation  were  varied  by  more  or  less  military  display, 


THE  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY  VOLUNTEERS         3! 

such  as  marching  through  the  streets  of  Madison  on  July 
4th  by  platoons.  Every  evening  at  dress  parade,  hundreds 
of  the  people  would  flock  to  the  grounds  to  witness  the  dis- 
play and  hear  the  martial  music.  There  was  a  large  flag 
pole  and  a  piece  of  artillery.  At  reveille,  the  flag  would  be 
hoisted ;  at  retreat  it  would  be  lowered  and  the  piece  fired. 
Guard  mounting  was  strictly  adhered  to  and  in  every  respect 
all  the  regulations  were  correctly  taught  and  enforced. 
Each  company  was  marched  to  the  mess  hall  and  seated  by 
military  commands  given  by  the  first  sergeant. 

We  were  mustered  into  the  United  States  service,  July 
1 6th  by  a  regular  army  officer.  Each  company  in  succes- 
sion fully  equipped,  except  arms,  marched  out  of  its  quar- 
ters, was  thoroughly  inspected  and  took  the  oath  with  up- 
lifted hands,  "to  bear  true  allegiance  to  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  to  serve  them  against  all  their  enemies  and 
opposers,  whatsoever."  Cheer  after  cheer  went  up  as  the 
boys  found  they  were  actually  in  the  service  of  Uncle  Sam. 
This  was  the  third  time  this  oath  had  been  administered  to 
each  member  of  Company  B.  Duplicate  muster-in  rolls 
were  made  for  each  company.  These  were  very  elaborate. 
Each  man's  record  in  the  government  service  was  determined 
by  these  rolls.  As  I  was  sergeant-major  at  the  time  of 
muster-in,  the  war  department  at  Washington  has  nothing 
to  show  that  I  ever  belonged  to  Company  B,  except  the 
'•'remarks"  opposite  my  name  on  the  muster-in  roll  of  the 
"field  and  staff." 

On  the  evening  of  July  zzd,  we  received  the  news  of  the 
defeat  at  Bull  Run,  and  at  the  same  time  an  order  to  report 


32  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

in  Washington,  D.  C.,  as  soon  as  possible.  Our  regiment 
received  its  colors  from  the  state,  by  the  hands  of  Gov- 
ernor Alexander  W.  Randall,  who  made  a  speech.  We 
then  passed  in  review  before  him.  Our  state  uniform  was 
gray,  with  a  blue  shirt.  Notwithstanding  so  much  had  been 
done  prior  to  receiving  orders  to  move,  yet  it  took  six  more 
days  to  reduce  our  baggage  and  equipments  to  somewhere 
near  movable  bulk,  and  then  after  leaving  more  behind  than 
we  tried  to  carry,  we  yet  moved  off  immensely  overloaded 
with  all  kinds  of  stuff  that  was  of  no  earthly  use  to  us  in  the 
field.  We  left  Madison  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  July, 
dined  at  Milwaukee,  and  arrived  at  Chicago  the  same  even- 
ing. The  streets  of  both  cities  were  crowded  with  patriotic 
people  cheering  us  on.  So  it  was  all  along  the  route  through 
Pittsburg  to  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  where  we  halted  for 
three  days.  From  there  we  went  to  Baltimore.  There  were 
1,052  officers  and  men  in  the  regiment  when  we  were  mus- 
tered in. 

August  4th,  I  wrote  from  Baltimore  : 

"  We  are  encamped  in  Patterson  Park,  overlooking  the 
blue  waters  and  shipping  of  the  bay.  In  the  distance  is 
Fort  Me  Henry,  the  flag  over  which  in  a  former  struggle 
gave  rise  to  the  National  Anthem,  the  '  Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner.' In  this  encampment,  the  earthworks  thrown  up  in 
1814,  for  the  defense  of  the  city  are  quite  well  preserved. 
On  this  ground  the  Federal  forces  were  then  encamped.  In 
our  march  through  the  city  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  with- 
out arms,  we  could  hear  occasionally  a  cheer  for  Jeff  Davis, 
but  we  were  not  otherwise  noticed." 


THE  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY  VOLUNTEERS         33 

We  arrived  in  Washington  and  became  a  part  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  August  8,  1861.  During  the  year 
following,  the  regiment  was  being  constantly  drilled. 
Although  at  first,  it  was  armed  with  old  Belgian  muskets, 
eventually  it  was  armed  with  the  best  Springfield  rifles. 
But  what  was  better  still,  its  field  officers  had  the  nerve  and 
good  sense  to  weed  out  inefficient  line  officers  as  time 
showed  the  necessity,  and  replace  them  with  members  of  the 
regiment  whom  close  acquaintance  had  shown  to  be  worthy. 
Ten  officers  were  forced  to  resign  at  Arlington  Heights,  op- 
posite Washington,  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  1861. 
Some  of  the  captains  were  supplanted  by  lieutenants,  and 
the  places  of  lieutenants  were  filled  by  enlisted  men.  I  re- 
member that  some  of  the  loudest  captains  at  Camp  Randall, 
who  assumed  to  "  know  it  all  "  were  the  first  to  go.  While 
the  modest  ones  who  had  brains,  and  were  anxious  to  learn, 
like  Bragg  of  Company  E  and  Dawes  of  Company  K,  were 
the  ones  who  eventually  carried  the  regiment  to  its  culmina- 
tion of  efficiency.  Soon  after  joining  the  army,  Major  B.  J. 
Sweet  became  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Captain  E.  S.  Bragg 
was  made  major.  In  July,  1862,  Colonel  Sweet  resigned  to 
take  the  colonelcy  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Infantry. 
Bragg  was  then  promoted  to  lieutenant-colonel  and  Captain 
Rufus  R.  Dawes  of  Company  K  was  made  major.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1 86 1, 1  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  of  Company  D. 
For  a  considerable  part  of  the  time,  however,  from  that 
time  until  I  resigned  in  July,  1862,  I  was  acting  adjutant  of 
the  regiment.  All  the  officers  of  Company  D  had  resigned 
and  their  places  were  not  filled  by  any  member  of  that 


34  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL  WAR 

company.  Yet  at  that  time,  Thomas  Kerr  was  a  sergeant 
of  Company  D.  After  some  fighting  had  been  done  by  the 
regiment,  Sergeant  Kerr  was  commissioned  an  officer;  sub- 
sequently was  made  lieutenant-colonel  and  commanded  the 
regiment  most  efficiently  in  some  of  its  severest  battles. 
The  last  time  I  saw  Colonel  Kerr  in  Milwaukee,  he  showed 
me  three  bullets  that  had  been  extracted  from  his  body. 
He  was  wounded  five  times. 

Upon  arriving  in  Washington,  the  regiment  slept  the  first 
night  in  a  church,  then  moved  to  the  old  city  hall  lot  which 
was  then  enclosed  with  a  high  board  fence.  The  Pension 
office  now  occupies  a  part  of  this  ground.  In  a  few  days, 
however,  perhaps  the  same  day,  we  moved  out  to  Kalorama 
Heights,  and  commenced  to  live  an  army  life.  Here  Gen- 
eral Rufus  King  organized  his  brigade,  consisting  of  the  Sec- 
ond, Sixth  and  Seventh  Wisconsin  and  Nineteenth  Indiana 
Infantry,  and  moved  it  down  to  the  Maryland  side  of  the 
Chain  bridge,  September  zd.  Camp  Lyon  was  the  name 
given  to  it.  Here  we  drew  blue  uniforms  for  the  first  time, 
about  September  2ist,  and  discarded  the  state  gray. 
We  were  encamped  here  over  a  month,  but  October  5th,  the 
brigade  was  moved  over  into  Virginia,  and  went  into  winter 
quarters  on  Arlington  Heights,  near  the  Lee  Mansion.  It 
was  in  camp  here  all  the  winter  of  '61-2.  Every  day  of 
this  period  was  full  of  active  duty.  There  were  guard  mount 
in  the  mornings,  company  drill  in  the  forenoons,  regimental 
drill  in  the  afternoons,  and  dress  parade  in  the  evenings. 
There  were  picket  duty  at  the  front ;  brigade  and  division 
drills  and  frequent  reviews.  In  all  these  it  was  the  duty  of 


THE  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY  VOLUNTEERS         35 

a  sergeant-rnajor  to  take  a  humble  part.  General  McClellan 
was  in  command  of  the  army ;  General  Irwin  McDowell  of 
the  corps,  and  General  Rufus  King  of  the  brigade. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  March,  1862,  McClellan 
made  a  general  advance  on  the  rebel  intrenchments  at  Ma- 
nassas,  found  them  abandoned,  although  imitation  wooden 
guns  were  left  in  place ;  returned  to  Alexandria  and  em- 
barked the  greater  part  of  his  army  down  the  Potomac 
on  steamboats  bound  for  the  Peninsula.  But  General 
McDowell's  corps  was  held  back  as  a  defense  of  Washing- 
ton. The  line  of  defense  was,  however,  made  on  the  Rap- 
pahannock  River.  After  much  marching  and  counter-march- 
ing, camping  and  waiting,  this  army  of  defense  arrived  at 
Fredericksburg,  in  April,  1862.  There  were  on  this  ad- 
vance, some  of  the  enemy's  cavalry,  and  detached  bands 
who  kept  well  out  of  the  way.  But  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  In- 
fantry did  not  do  any  fighting.  It  was  receiving,  however, 
the  discipline  and  hardening  of  an  actual  campaign,  through 
mud  and  rain.  It  was  this  kind  of  service  during  which 
there  was  so  much  opportunity  for  battalion  drill  and  exer- 
cise in  all  soldierly  duties  except  fighting,  that  made  the 
regiment  afterwards  so  efficient  in  actual  battle. 

This  army  of  McDowell's  made  a  reconnaissance  from 
Fredericksburg  occasionally  to  the  front  towards  Richmond 
where  General  McClellan  was  fighting.  When  Stonewall 
Jackson's  forces  left  Lee's  army  and  marched  into  the  Shen- 
ancloah  Valley,  we  marched  as  far  west  as  Warrenton,  Vir- 
ginia, to  assist  Banks,  who  was  somewhere  in  there  with  a 
small  army.  Here,  also,  at  Fredericksburg,  General  Gib- 


36  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

bons  took  command  of  the  brigade,  General  King  being  pro- 
moted to  the  command  of  a  division.  The  men  had  issued 
to  them,  shelter  tents  and  white  leggings,  for  the  first  time. 
The  next  morning  after  the  issue,  General  Gibbons  found 
the  legs  of  his  horse  ornamented  with  white  leggings.  This 
was  a  silent  protest  against  these  leggings. 

In  July,  1862,  while  lying  at  Fredericksburg,  I  received 
the  following  dispatch  from  Governor  Solomon  : 

"  State  of  Wisconsin, 
"Executive  Office, 

"Madison,  July  10,  1862. 
11  MICHAEL  H.  FITCH, 

"First  Lieut.,  Co.  D,  6th  Reg.,  Wis.  Vols. 
"SiR: 

"  In  raising  new  regiments  in  the  state,  I  intend  to  ap- 
point Lieutenant-Colonel  Sweet  as  colonel  of  one  of  them. 
He  desires  you  as  adjutant  of  his  regiment.     If  you  will 
accept  that  position,  you  must  come  here  at  once. 
"  Respectfully  yours, 

"EDWARD  SOLOMON, 

"Governor  of  Wisconsin." 

Colonel  Bragg  and  General  King  endorsed  my  application 
for  discharge  and  gave  me  transportation  to  Washington  via 
Aquia  Creek  and  the  Potomac  River.  While  on  the  trans- 
port going  up  the  river,  I  read  for  the  first  time,  Pope's 
famous  order  announcing  his  command  of  the  army  of  Vir- 
ginia, composed  of  all  the  troops  in  that  department,  except 
those  with  McClellan  on  the  Peninsula,  and  saying  that  his 
headquarters  would  be  in  the  saddle.  There  were  a  number 
of  officers  from  different  regiments  on  board  and  I  could  see 
that  they  did  not  look  upon  Pope  with  favor.  General 


THE  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY  VOLUNTEERS         37 

McClellan  still  had  command  of  the  old  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  was  very  slowly  moving  it  from  Harrison's  Land- 
ing on  the  James.  It  was  in  this  camp,  he  wrote  those 
letters  to  President  Lincoln,  in  which  he  tried  to  throw  the 
blame  of  his  failures  on  the  Peninsula  on  the  President 
and  the  War  Department. 

I  had  no  trouble  in  Washington  getting  my  discharge.  It 
is  as  follows : 

"Headquarters  Army  of  Virginia, 

"  Washington,  July  17,  1862. 
"SPECIAL  ORDER 
"No.  15. 

"Extract. 

"The  following  named  officer,  having  tendered  his  resig- 
nation, is  hereby  honorably  discharged  from  the  military 

service  of  the  United  States 

"  First  Lieut.  Michael  H.  Fitch,  6th  Wisconsin  Volunteers. 
"By  Command  of 

"MAJOR-GENERAL  POPE. 
"(Signed)  GEORGE  D.  RUGGLES, 

"Assistant  Adjutant-General." 

The  record  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  in  the  war  was  one 
of  exceptional  merit.  When  it  came  into  actual  service  in 
the  field,  it  proved  to  be  one  of  the  finest  volunteer  regi- 
ments. It  was  brigaded  soon  after  its  arrival  at  Washing- 
ton with  three  other  infantry  volunteer  regiments  equal  in 
efficiency  to  itself,  viz. :  The  Second  and  Seventh  Wiscon- 
sin, and  the  Nineteenth  Indiana.  This  brigade  came  after- 
wards to  be  known  as  the  "  Iron  Brigade  "  and  is  so  called 
in  most  histories  of  the  operations  of  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac, The  sixth  is  one  of  the  forty- five  regiments  whose 


38  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

losses  in  the  Civil  War  were  the  largest  in  killed  and  mor- 
tally wounded  in  battle.  Yet,  it  was  not  in  the  first  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  nor  with  McClellan  on  the  Peninsula.  It  did 
not  have  any  fighting  until  August  28,  1862,  at  Gainesville 
under  Pope,  the  real  beginning  of  the  second  Battle  of  Bull 
Run. 

The  Sixth  Wisconsin  during  its  term  of  service  had  four 
different  colonels,  and  furnished  several  colonels  to  other 
regiments.  All  four  of  its  colonels  were  brevetted  brigadier- 
generals,  and  one  major-general.  Two  of  them  were  made 
full  brigadier-generals.  Two  of  them  became  members  of 
congress  after  the  war — Bragg  and  Dawes.  It  lost  in  killed 
and  wounded,  867.  Of  the  1,058  men  originally  enrolled, 
179  were  killed — 16.9  per  cent.  It  lost  sixteen  officers 
killed.  It  had  losses  in  twenty-two  battles. 

The  "Iron  Brigade"  stands  at  the  head  for  brigade 
losses  during  the  war.  Its  loss  was  1,131  in  killed.  This 
is  thirty  per  cent,  more  than  the  troops  from  the  states  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Delaware  together  lost  in  the  Civil  War. 
It  is  seventy-four  per  cent,  of  the  whole  losses  during  the 
Mexican  War. 

Colonel  W.  F.  Fox  in  his  work,  "Regimental  Losses," 
says  of  the  sixth  : 

"The  regiment  left  Wisconsin  July  28,  1861,  proceeding 
to  Washington,  where  it  was  assigned  to  the  brigade  which 
was  destined  to  fill  such  a  glorious  place  in  the  annals  of 
war.  The  sixth  had  the  advantage  of  a  year's  drill  and 
discipline  before  it  was  called  upon  to  face  the  enemy  in  a 
general  engagement.  .  ,  ,  Under  command  of  Colonel 


THE  SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY  VOLUNTEERS         39 

Dawes,  it  won  merited  distinction  at  Gettysburg  in  the  battle 
of  the  first  day;  all  histories  of  that  field,  mention  the 
maneuvre  and  the  part  taken  in  it  by  the  sixth,  by  which  a 
part  of  a  confederate  brigade  was  captured  in  the  railroad 
cut." 

The  regiment  became  finely  drilled  before  I  left  it.  But 
of  course  that  did  not  foreshadow  its  fighting  qualities.  Its 
real  efficiency  depended  upon  the  way  it  was  handled  under 
fire  by  its  officers.  Its  death  list  of  officers  tells  the  real 
tale  of  how  the  men  were  held  under  fire  in  many  battles. 
It  was  one  of  nineteen  regiments  in  the  service  that  lost 
sixteen  or  more  officers  killed  or  mortally  wounded.  It  is 
the  only  Wisconsin  regiment  that  lost  as  many  as  sixteen. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  TWENTY-FIRST 
WISCONSIN  INFANTRY 

The  year  1862  was  the  darkest  of  the  war — The  President's  call  for 
300,000 — The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Infantry  organized  under 
this  call — The  call  quickly  filled — The  regiment  made  up  from 
the  northeastern  counties  of  Wisconsin,  around  Lake  Winnebago 
— The  fine  appearance  of  the  men — The  hard  work  of  organiza- 
tion, and  paucity  of  equipment — The  regiment  mustered  in 
September  5th,  and  leave  the  state  September  II,  1862 — Roster 
of  officers — Reminiscences  of  the  camp  at  Oshkosh — Short  an- 
ticipatory account  of  subsequent  marches  and  losses. 

THE  history  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  volunteers  ex- 
tends over  a  period  of  nearly  three  years.  The  summer  of 
1862  was  to  me  the  darkest  period  of  the  war.  Absolutely 
no  progress  that  was  perceptible  to  the  observer  had  been 
made  towards  peace.  When  the  call  for  300,000,  under 
which  this  regiment  was  organized,  was  made  in  July,  1862, 
McClellan  was  fighting  valiantly  but  without  success,  two 
enemies  on  the  Potomac, — the  rebels  and  the  malaria  of  the 
swamps;  McDowell's  army  of  the  Rappahannock  was  en- 
camped on  the  river  from  which  it  was  named,  sixty  miles 
from  the  city  of  Richmond.  What  afterwards  became  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  was  on  the  Tennessee  River,  from 
which  in  a  very  short  time  it  had  to  fall  back  into  Nashville 
and  Kentucky,  while  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  no  particu- 
lar progress  had  been  made  by  the  Army  of  the  Tt-nriessee. 

40 


THE    TWENTY-FIRST   WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  4! 

It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  something  vigorous  should 
be  done — that  a  more  aggressive  policy  should  commence, 
and  therefore  the  President  called  on  the  3d  day  of  July, 
1862,  for  300,000  more  volunteers.  Under  this  call,  the 
twenty-first  was  raised  and  organized.  This  number  (300,- 
ooo)  was  very  quickly  raised.  No  sooner  had  the  call  been 
read  by  the  people,  than  from  hill,  valley,  town  and  city, 
came  the  announcing  shout,  "  We're  coming,  Father  Abra- 
ham, 300,000  more,"  as  the  popular  song  words  it.  Wis- 
consin filled  her  quota  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 
The  headquarters  of  the  twenty-first  was  established  at  Osh- 
kosh  on  the  first  of  August,  1862.  By  the  first  of  September 
— one  month  after — there  had  been  offered  towards  filling 
up  its  ranks,  more  than  eighteen  hundred  men.  Of  course, 
all  these  could  not  be  received  into  that  regiment,  but  on 
the  fifth  of  September  there  were  mustered  into  the  service 
of  the  Government,  nine  hundred  and  ninety-six  of  as  good, 
true,  splendid-looking  men,  as  ever  shouldered  a  musket. 
They  came  from  the  counties  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Winnebago, 
Outagamie,  Manitowoc,  Calumet,  Waupaca,  and  one  com- 
pany, H,  was  made  up  largely  of  railroad  men,  enlisted 
along  the  line  of  the  Northwestern  railway.  Physically, 
these  men  as  a  body,  were  almost  unequaled.  Their  tall 
forms  and  generally  fine  appearance,  attracted  attention 
wherever  they  went.  When  the  regiment  was  first  reported 
in  person  for  duty  to  the  officer  commanding  at  Covington, 
Kentucky — Major-General  Lew  Wallace — his  remark  was, 
"  Colonel,  you  have  a  splendid-looking  set  of  men,"  pre- 
ceding this  remark  with  a  very  emphatic  expletive.  While 


42  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

it  was  marching  through  Cincinnati,  General  Sam  Gary,  the 
temperance  lecturer,  and  whilom  member  of  Congress  re- 
marked to  its  adjutant,  that  it  was  the  finest-looking  regi- 
ment he  had  seen.  After  the  regiment  had  been  in  service 
for  a  short  time,  one  foggy  morning  it  was  passing  other 
troops  when  one  of  them  exclaimed,  "  Are  there  any  more 
liberty  poles  left  in  Wisconsin?  "  The  fog  may  have  some- 
what magnified  the  forms,  but  these  incidents  serve  to  show 
how  the  appearance  of  the  regiment  impressed  those  who 
saw  it.  It  was  well  adapted  to  the  old  service  of  grenadiers 
or  heavy  infantry — rather  where  force  was  required,  than 
celerity.  The  average  moral  tone  of  this  regiment  was  first- 
class.  Rowdyism  in  all  its  various  forms  was  scarcely 
known.  Their  intelligence  was  much  above  the  average. 
In  short,  any  judge  of  human  nature,  to  look  into  their  faces 
would  say  that  all  such  men  wanted,  to  make  first-class  sol- 
diers, were  drill  and  discipline,  and  this  proved  to  be  true. 
The  companies  came  rapidly  into  camp  in  the  days  about 
the  first  of  September  and  were  immediately  quartered  in 
barracks  built  in  the  fair  grounds,  named  Camp  Bragg,  after 
General  E.  S.  Bragg  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin.  On  the  fifth 
of  September,  they  were  mustered  into  the  United  States 
service,  receiving  one  month's  pay,  and  each  man  twenty- 
five  dollars,  an  advance  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  bounty, 
and  on  the  eleventh  they  left  the  state  for  the  seat  of  war. 
In  this  short  space  of  time,  one  unacquainted  with  the 
service  could  form  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  work  necessary  to 
organize,  equip  and  generally  prepare  the  regiment  for  re- 
moval even,  not  mentioning  actual  service — for  that  takes 


THE   TWENTY-FIRST    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  43 

not  only  time,  but  means  and  opportunity.  Each  company 
had  to  prepare  five  copies  of  its  muster  rolls ;  open  a  regular 
set  of  books,  consisting  of  descriptive  roll,  giving  a  full  de- 
scription of  every  man ;  clothing  book,  in  which  each  man 
must  be  charged  with  each  article  of  clothing  furnished  him ; 
morning  report  book  ;  order  book,  and  first  sergeant's  book, 
for  calling  the  rolls  morning  and  night.  All  non-commis- 
sioned officers  had  to  be  appointed  and  commissioned,  cloth- 
ing in  uniforms  had  to  be  issued  by  the  quartermaster  (who 
first  drew  it  from  the  quartermaster  of  the  state)  to  the 
company  commanders,  and  by  the  company  commanders  to 
the  men,  and  the  receipt  of  each  man  taken  therefor.  Cook- 
ing utensils  were  issued  to  each  company.  Arms  were 
drawn  from  the  state,  which  proved  to  be  so  defective  that 
they  were  returned  and  the  regiment  left  the  state  without 
them.  The  men  did  not  handle  a  musket  until  they  were 
placed  in  the  trenches  at  Covington,  Kentucky,  to  resist  a 
threatened  attack  by  the  rebel  army  of  Kirby  Smith.  It 
was  found  impossible  to  draw  tents  of  any  kind  in  the  state, 
and  the  absolute  necessity  for  troops  in  Kentucky  in  the 
opinion  of  those  in  authority,  to  save  either  Louisville  or 
Cincinnati,  or  both,  made  the  orders  from  the  Secretary  of 
War  to  Governor  Solomon  imperative  that  the  regiment 
should  start  for  Cincinnati.  The  commander  of  the  regi- 
ment protested  against  thus  hurrying  off  without  arms  and 
without  shelter,  but  received  the  answer  that  these  necessary 
articles  could  be  procured  immediately  upon  arrival  at  Cin- 
cinnati. Surrounded  by  hundreds  of  relatives  and  friends 
who  had  gathered  around  the  departing  to  shower  their 


44  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

blessings  upon  them,  bid  them  Godspeed,  and  many  of  them, 
as  time  proved,  a  last  farewell,  on  the  night  of  September 
n,  1862,  the  locomotive  bore  the  regiment  away  to  the  far 
south. 

The  field  staff  and  line  officers  at  that  time  were  as  fol- 
lows : 

Colonel,  B.  J.  Sweet ;  lieutenant-colonel,  H.  C.  Hobart ; 
Major,  Frederick  Schumacher;  surgeon,  S.  J.  Carolin ;  ad- 
jutant, M.  H.  Fitch;  quartermaster,  H.  C.  Hamilton;  first 
assistant  surgeon,  James  T.  Reeve;  second  assistant  sur- 
geon, S.  L.  Fuller;  chaplain,  O.  P.  Clinton. 

A  Company — Captain,  Alexander  White  ;  first  lieutenant, 
Nathan  Leavitt ;  second  lieutenant,  H.  K.  Edwards. 

B  Company — Captain,  C.  N.  Paine;  first  lieutenant, 
H.  Russell ;  second  lieutenant,  J.  H.  Jenkins. 

C  Company — Captain,  A.  S.  Godfrey ;  first  lieutenant, 
William  Wall ;  second  lieutenant,  D.  W.  Mitchell. 

D  Company — Captain,  John  Jewett;  first  lieutenant, 
H.  Turner;  second  lieutenant,  F.  W.  Borcherdt. 

E  Company — Captain,  M.  H.  Gibbs;  first  lieutenant, 
F.  Ostenfieldt ;  second  lieutenant,  R.  J.  Weisbrod. 

F  Company — Captain,  Edgar  Conklin ;  first  lieutenant, 
Milton  Ewen ;  second  lieutenant,  C.  H.  Morgan. 

G  Company — Captain,  M.  H.  Sessions;  first  lieutenant, 
J.  C.  Crawford ;  second  lieutenant,  James  W.  Randall. 

H  Company — Captain,  George  Bently ;  first  lieutenant, 
F.  L.  Clark;  second  lieutenant,  T.  F.  Strong. 

I  Company — Captain,  S.  B.  Nelson ;  first  lieutenant, 
A.  B.  Smith ;  second  lieutenant,  E.  Delaney. 


THE    TWENTY-FIRST    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  45 

K  Company— Captain,  C.  H.  Walker;  first  lieutenant, 
W.  Murphy ;  second  lieutenant,  Joseph  La  Count. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  H.  C.  Hobart  who  was  commissioned, 
had  not  yet  joined,  having  to  make  a  sea  voyage  from  New 
Orleans  where  he  was  stationed  as  captain,  with  his  former 
regiment,  the  Fourth  Wisconsin. 

One  of  the  pleasantest  recollections  of  my  life  is  what 
might  be  termed,  the  formative  period  of  the  twenty-first. 
As  far  as  my  connection  with  it  is  concerned,  it  began  July 
1 8,  1862,  and  this  embryonic  period  ended  when  the  regi- 
ment left  the  state  for  the  seat  of  war,  September  nth,  its 
accouchement  into  the  environment  of  actual  war.  This  is 
a  stretch  of  less  than  two  months,  yet  in  that  short  interval 
are  crowded  so  many  pleasant  sensations,  that  my  mind  re- 
verts to  it  with  the  keenest  pleasure.  My  own  sudden 
change  from  the  dull  routine  of  camp  life  in  the  Sixth  Wis- 
consin Infantry,  then  lying  at  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  to 
the  luxury  of  hotel  life,  first  at  Fond  du  Lac,  and  finally  at 
Oshkosh  was  of  itself  exceedingly  pleasant.  But  added  to 
that  were  also  the  pleasures  of  an  intelligent  and  sympa- 
thetic society  for  a  short  halcyon  period,  away  from  war's 
alarms.  The  making  of  new  acquaintances  among  the 
citizens ;  the  renewing  of  old  acquaintances  among  the  sol- 
diers ;  the  greeting  of  the  different  officers  and  their  com- 
panies as  they  came  into  camp  for  the  first  time ;  the  evident 
distinction  given  the  officers  at  the  headquarters  of  the  regi- 
ment, from  the  colonel  down  to  the  adjutant,  by  the  loyal 
people  of  Oshkosh  ;  the  pride  and  pleasure  expressed  by  the 
crowds  who  came  to  the  old  fair  grounds  at  Oshkosh  where 


46  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

our  camp  was  located  to  witness  dress  parade ;  and  the  final 
farewell  and  sincere  "  Godspeed"  on  the  nth  day  of  Sep- 
tember, by  an  immense  concourse  of  fathers,  mothers, 
wives,  sweethearts  and  friends ;  all  made  a  lasting  and  beau- 
tiful impression  upon  the  minds  of  young  men,  who  with 
high  hopes  and  bounding  life  were  so  enthusiastically  volun- 
teering to  fight  the  battles  of  freedom  and  their  native  land. 

The  uniform  and  accoutrements  of  a  soldier,  the  straps, 
sword  and  sash  of  an  officer,  had  transformed  these  boys 
into  the  appearance  of  martial  heroes,  to  their  families  and 
friends.  The  change  from  the  homely  pursuits  of  peaceful 
industry  to  the  glitter  and  tinselry  of  "grim  visaged  war" 
was  so  sharp  cut  and  sudden  that  it  had  the  effect  of  pro- 
ducing both  in  the  minds  of  the  young  soldier  and  of  his  ad- 
miring friends,  the  keenest  sensations  of  his  life.  It  was 
like  enchantment  in  "  The  Arabian  Nights  Entertainment" 
that  came  by  the  rubbing  of  the  magic  lamp. 

On  the  part  of  the  officers,  in  addition  to  the  pleasure  of 
display,  it  was  also  the  brief  exercise  of  power,  the  com- 
mand of  men  who  were  taught  to  obey  the  slightest  request. 
The  sonorous  words  of  command,  given  in  many  instances 
in  an  unmilitary  tone,  to  which  a  hundred  men  in  uniform, 
who  theretofore  while  in  citizen's  dress,  would  never  think 
of  responding,  now  hastily  and  eagerly  obeyed,  gave  zest 
and  immense  satisfaction  to  ten  captains,  the  effect  of  which 
on  themselves,  had  been  before  undreamed.  I  am  not  say- 
ing this  to  the  detriment  of  these  captains.  This  feeling 
was  greatly  to  their  credit  as  officers.  The  pride  of  position 
and  power,  the  love  of  the  "glorious  pomp  and  circum- 


THE    TWENTY-FIRST   WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  47 

stance  of  war,"  if  not  carried  to  a  ridiculous  excess,  are 
commendable  in  officers.  It  was  not  confined  to  the  line  by 
any  means.  It  pervaded  the  field  officers,  and  in  an  army, 
the  entire  commissioned  personnel  from  the  general  com- 
manding down  to  the  second  lieutenants. 

Our  stay  at  Fond  du  Lac  was  short — only  a  few  days. 
My  memory  is,  that  the  entire  headquarters  there  consisted 
only  of  the  colonel  and  adjutant.  The  companies  did  not 
begin  to  arrive  until  some  time  after  camp  had  been  estab- 
lished at  Oshkosh.  The  regiment  itself  knew  only  Oshkosh, 
and  not  Fond  du  Lac.  I  do  not  remember  the  exact  date 
of  opening  headquarters  at  Oshkosh  ;  but  it  was  at  the 
Adams  House.  Neither  do  I  remember  when  the  first  com- 
pany arrived.  It  was  very  likely  Company  B,  which  was 
recruited  in  Winnebago  County,  of  which  Oshkosh  is  the 
county  seat.  This  was  Captain  James  E.  Stuart's  and  Lieu- 
tenant Edgar  Vrendenburg's  company.  These  men  did  not 
hold  these  offices  in  that  company  at  that  time,  but  when 
they  did  come  to  be  commissioned  captain  and  lieutenant, 
it  was  through  such  fire  and  blood  of  actual  war,  and  for 
such  efficiency  and  bravery  that  their  names  are  fastened  on 
to  the  company  to  the  exclusion  of  those  who  first  com- 
manded it. 

In  the  hot  days  of  the  latter  part  of  August,  the  companies 
followed  each  other  into  camp  in  rapid  succession.  Captain 
Alexander  White  brought  one  from  Fond  du  Lac ;  Captain 
George  Bently  another,  and  Lieutenant  Milton  Ewen  an- 
other from  the  same  county.  Company  G,  of  which  Ran- 
dall and  Watson  afterwards  became  captains  came  from 


48  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

VVaupaca.  Captain  Walker  brought  a  company  from  Mani- 
towoc.  Gibbs,  who  was  killed  at  Perryville,  came  with  one 
from  Calumet.  What  afterwards  became  the  color  com- 
pany, C,  was  raised  in  Winnebago  County.  Captain  Jewett's 
company  was  organized  in  Outagamie  County,  at  Appleton. 
One  came  from  Neenah  and  Menasha  of  which  S.  B.  Nelson 
was  first  captain,  and  A.  B.  Bradish  was  captain  at  the  close 
of  the  war. 

Those  were  exciting  days.  It  is  a  huge  task  to  transform 
even  so  intelligent  a  body  of  men  as  the  twenty-first  Wis- 
consin from  plain  citizens  into  soldiers.  The  arming  and 
equipping,  the  uniforming  and  drilling,  the  enrolling,  the 
paying,  the  muster-in,  the  organization  of  the  commissary 
and  quartermaster  departments,  the  drill  in  messing  and 
sanitary  arrangements,  the  calls  morning,  noon  and  night, 
the  hospital  establishment,  the  proper  management  of  the 
ordnance  department,  the  transportation,  all  made  never 
ending  details ;  the  perfection  of  which  ever  eluded  us  to 
the  end  of  the  war.  There  was  always  something  that 
might  have  been  made  better.  Some  men  were  always  sick, 
some  muskets  always  out  of  order,  some  food  was  always  in- 
digestible to  some  men,  some  morning  reports  were  not  cor- 
rect in  every  particular,  some  officers  were  too  solemn,  others 
too  hilarious;  some  showed  an  undue  amount  of  martial 
spirit,  others,  and  they  were  in  the  majority,  not  enough. 
Some  men  were  stupid  and  never  did  learn  the  drill ;  others 
never  could  keep  clean.  Some  captains  had  excellent  con- 
trol of  their  men  ;  others  had  little.  Complaints  were  nu- 
merous from  the  captains  to  regimental  headquarters,  of  all 


THE    TWENTY-FIRST    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  49 

manner  of  imaginary  neglect  by  the  field  officers,  of  the 
welfare  of  their  men.  It  was  seldom  that  any  of  the  com- 
plaints were  just.  With  all  these  drawbacks,  there  was  per- 
haps not  a  finer  body  of  men  in  the  service.  There  were 
few  rowdies  among  them.  They  were  not  frivolous  in  their 
dispositions.  They  were  far  above  the  average  in  intelli- 
gence. They  were  sincere  and  earnest  in  volunteering.  It 
was  a  simple  question  with  them  of  duty  and  patriotism. 
The  thought  of  pay,  bounty  and  pension,  I  think,  did  not 
enter  their  heads.  They  were  the  units  of  the  nation,  a 
part  of  the  imperilled  Union  marching  out  to  fight  for  their 
own.  They  only  needed  to  be  intelligently  led,  to  be  skil- 
fully commanded,  and  they  could  become  the  military  peers 
of  any  regiment  in  the  service. 

When  the  companies  were  all  in,  there  were  1,002  men 
and  officers  on  the  rolls.  When  uniformed,  armed,  and 
equipped,  their  appearance  at  dress-parade  was  fine.  As  a 
body  they  were  above  the  average  in  height  and  weight.  As 
the  crowd  of  visitors  looked  at  them  each  evening  at  dress- 
parade,  it  saw  only  one  picturesque  result — not  the  dreary 
labor  and  tireless  patience  behind  the  scenes  producing  it. 
It  was  well  it  did  not  know.  That  knowledge  would  have 
taken  away  most  of  the  pleasure ;  brought  sorrow  instead  of 
joy  to  the  heart  of  many  a  father,  mother,  sister  or  wife. 
But  even  the  labor  was  lightened  to  those  young  soldiers  by 
the  expectation  of  the  glorious  and  romantic  service  of  an 
army  in  active  duty,  that  arose  in  their  imaginations.  They 
were  eager  to  be  away  to  the  front,  especially  after  the 
muster-in,  which  occurred  September  5,  1862. 


5O  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

There  is  much  about  actual  war  that  excites  the  imagina- 
tion and  enthusiasm  of  the  average  young  man.  (We  were 
all  young  then.)  When  making  preparation  for  it,  he  sel- 
dom thinks  of  dangers.  Each  one  thinks  he  will  be  among 
the  surviving.  "  Hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human 
breast,"  especially  in  that  of  the  soldier.  Occasionally  there 
is  one  who  happens  to  think  just  before  his  death  in  battle 
that  he  will  be  killed.  He  may  carelessly  speak  of  the  pre- 
monition to  a  comrade  who  afterwards  proclaims  it  to  be  an 
intervention  of  a  supernatural  power,  but  the  feeling  is  only 
a  coincidence.  The  same  feeling  comes  to  hundreds  of 
others  who  do  not  get  killed,  but  who  never  recall  the  feel- 
ing again. 

How  many  who  were  then  present,  survived  the  war  and 
were  mustered  out  in  1865  at  Milwaukee?  Three  hundred 
and  five  died  in  the  service — one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
by  the  bullet,  and  the  rest  by  deadly  disease.  A  large 
number  have  died  since  the  war.  At  headquarters  in  Osh- 
kosh,  were  Colonel  B.  J.  Sweet,  Major  Schumacher,  Sur- 
geon Carolin,  Chaplain  O.  P.  Clinton,  Quartermaster 
H.  C.  Hamilton,  Sergeant-Major  B.  J.  Van  Valkenburg, 
who  are  now  all  dead. 

In  these  formative  and  anticipatory  days,  there  was  always 
a  jolly  coterie  of  choice  spirits  in  Colonel  Sweet,  Major 
Schumacher,  Quartermaster  Hamilton,  Dr.  Carolin  and  Van 
Valkenburg.  There  was  no  lack  of  genuine  wit  and  humor. 
At  the  muster-in  at  Oshkosh  on  September  5,  1862,  a  thou- 
sand stood  in  line.  The  same  number  was  never  in  line 
again.  That  line  grew  shorter  and  shorter  from  the  day  we 


THE    TWENTY-FIRST    WISCONSIN    INFANTRY  5  I 

left  the  state,  until  at  the  close  of  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  it  was  less  than  one  hundred.  It  then  began  to 
lengthen  again  by  the  return  of  absentees,  and  by  new  re- 
cruits, until  on  May  4,  1864,  there  were  three  hundred  and 
fifty-two  muskets.  On  the  Atlanta  campaign,  beginning 
then,  one  hundred  and  nine  of  these  were  hit  by  bullets,  and 
about  the  same  number  were  disabled  by  disease.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1864,  the  number  present  increased  by  transfers 
from  the  First  and  Tenth  Wisconsin  to  about  four  hundred, 
and  about  this  number  passed  in  review  down  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  May  24,  1865.  The  transfers  and  new  recruits 
were  then  retransferred  to  some  other  regiment,  leaving  pres- 
ent for  final  muster,  only  two  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  orig- 
inal enrollment,  who  were  mustered  out  at  Milwaukee,  June 
17,  1865.  More  than  one-third  of  them  were  killed  and 
wounded.  Sixty-four  of  them  were  killed  in  their  first  bat- 
tle. They  marched  and  fought  by  a  crooked  line  of  maneu- 
vres  from  Louisville  to  Atlanta  ;  thence  to  the  sea  through 
Georgia ;  from  Savannah  north  through  both  Carolines  and 
Virginia  to  Washington,  D.  C. 

Until  the  final  surrender,  it  was  a  death  struggle  with  an 
able  foe.  Its  line  of  march  was  red  with  the  carnage  of 
Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge, 
Resacca,  New  Hope  Church,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Marietta, 
Chattahoochee,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro, 
Savannah,  Averysboro,  and  Bentonville.  Those  who  en- 
dured it  all  and  survived,  and  those  who  died  in  the  service, 
are  pure  gold.  The  memory  of  those  who  lost  their 
lives  is  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  the  living.  The  rec- 


52  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

ords  of  their  grateful  country  will  hand  down  their 
names  and  deeds  to  future  generations  because  of  the  heroic 
part  they  performed  in  the  most  justifiable  civil  war  of  the 
ages. 


CHAPTER  V 
BATTLE  OF  PERRYVILLE 

The  regiment  first  goes  to  Covington,  Kentucky,  thence  to  Louisville 
— It  becomes  a  part  of  the  Twenty-eighth  Brigade  in  Rousseau's 
Division — Left  Louisville  October  1st  and  fought  in  the  battle  of 
Perryville,  October  8th — An  account  of  the  battle  and  the  losses 
of  the  regiment — An  episode  with  a  slaveholder  and  his  slave. 

WITHIN  two  days  after  leaving  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  the 
regiment  was  in  the  trenches  at  Covington,  Kentucky,  op- 
posite Cincinnati  with  arms,  but  all  efforts  failed  in  the 
most  complete  and  profound  disorder  and  confusion  of  that 
memorable  scare,  to  find  any  tents  to  draw,  and  therefore 
with  rails  and  boughs  of  evergreens  and  other  trees,  the  men 
made  themselves  as  comfortable  as  raw  troops  could.  The 
only  water  to  drink  was  that  of  Licking  River,  from  which 
the  green  scum  had  to  be  skimmed,  only  to  find  muddy 
water  underneath.  But  after  a  very  few  days  of  this  kind 
of  life  here,  the  regiment  proceeded  to  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky, by  rail,  was  placed  in  the  division  of  General  P.  H. 
Sheridan,  and  commenced  work  immediately  upon  a  line  of 
intrenchments  environing  that  city.  At  three  o'clock  each 
morning  it  was  marched  out  into  these  trenches  to  remain 
until  after  daylight  to  resist  any  attack  which  might  be 
made  by  the  enemy,  who  were  at  that  time  in  the  vicinity. 
Buell's  army  from  Tennessee  and  Alabama  arrived  in  a  few 
days.  The  danger  of  an  attack  was  then  considered  at  an 

53 


54  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

end.  Arrangements  were  immediately  made  to  march 
against  the  enemy.  Reorganization  of  brigades  and  di- 
visions was  necessary.  The  twenty-first  was  assigned  to  the 
twenty-eighth  brigade  (General  Starkweather)  of  Rousseau's 
division.  For  the  first  time  tents  were  drawn,  and  then 
only  by  the  most  persistent,  and  almost  forcible  means,  the 
colonel  commanding  accompanied  by  some  officers  of  his 
regiment  going  in  person  to  the  chief  quartermaster  at 
Louisville  and  absolutely  forcing  him  to  deliver  tents  to  the 
quartermaster  of  the  regiment.  The  regiment  lay  at  Louis- 
ville about  three  weeks.  The  location  of  the  camp  was 
changed  in  this  period  by  orders,  four  times,  to  as  many 
different  places.  Transportation,  tents,  and  ammunition 
were  drawn  here.  The  transportation  consisted  of  thirteen 
six-mule  teams.  Two  years  after,  the  regiment  was  more 
comfortable  and  better  served  with  thirteen  single  mules, 
because  it  had  learned  how  to  take  care  of  itself.  On  the 
morning  of  the  first  of  October,  1862,  the  pursuit  of  Bragg's 
rebel  army  commenced,  the  twenty-first  beginning  at  that 
time,  its  first  march  and  approaching  its  first  battle.  In 
consequence  of  the  numerous  changes  of  camp,  the  drawing 
of  full  equipage,  constant  fatigue  duty  in  digging  trenches, 
it  had  been  impossible  to  hold  battalion  drill  down  to  this 
date,  but  three  times.  The  men  were  absolutely  without 
any  experience,  and  could  not  obey  commands  from  not 
knowing  what  they  imported.  To  add  to  the  trials  of  the 
new  situation  the  weather  was  hot  in  the  day  and  cold  at 
night.  No  rain  had  fallen  for  days  and  the  country  passed 
over  was  singularly  destitute  of  water  for  either  man  or 


BATTLE    OF    PERRYVILLE  55 

beast.  Like  all  new  troops,  they  endeavored  to  carry  too 
much  and  consequently  many  gave  out,  and  all,  after  the 
first  day's  march,  either  threw  away  or  otherwise  disposed 
of  surplus  clothing,  blankets,  etc.  The  line  of  march  lay 
through  Taylorsville,  Bloomfield,  Chaplin  and  Mackville. 
These  places  are  unimportant  aggregations  of  houses,  stores, 
and  shops  with  a  few  hundred  people.  The  social  element 
in  them  being  colored  (the  only  ones  social  with  the  Union 
troops),  crowds  of  negroes  visited  the  line  of  daily  march 
and  as  many  as  could,  visited  our  camps  at  night.  At  Bloom- 
field,  the  regiment  remained  one  day,  the  army  apparently 
being  halted  to  allow  the  advanced  cavalry  to  reconnoitre 
for  the  enemy,  as  our  movements  depended  entirely  on  his. 
While  here  three  Kentucky  farmers  came  into  camp  seek- 
ing a  negro  whom  they  said  was  in  the  camp  of  the  Twenty- 
first  Wisconsin,  and  after  having  a  controversy  with  the 
men,  desired  the  colonel  commanding  to  deliver  him  to 
them.  He  declined  to  interfere.  "  We  came  down  here  to 
suppress  a  rebellion  against  the  United  States  government 
and  not  to  steal  negroes,  nor  yet  to  be  negro  catchers.  If 
your  negro  is  in  our  camp,  you  can  take  him,  but  I  shall 
give  you  no  assistance  in  running  after  him."  The  slave 
masters  not  liking  the  chilling  northern  aspect  of  the 
soldiers,  sought  division  headquarters.  Soon  an  order  came 
down  by  a  mounted  orderly  instructing  that  the  negro 
should  be  given  up,  and  after  delivering  it,  unfortunately 
the  orderly  in  passing  out  of  camp  stopped  at  a  crowd  of  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin  men  who  were  discussing  the  ques- 
tion of  delivering  slaves  to  slave  masters,  and  entered  into  a 


56  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

controversy.  The  result  was  that  the  orderly  soon  found  it 
convenient  to  hasten  as  fast  as  his  horse  could  well  carry 
him  out  of  camp,  with  corn-cobs  flying  in  rather  close 
proximity  about  his  head.  The  episode  was  not  seen  from 
the  headquarters  of  the  regiment.  The  orderly  immediately 
reported  to  his  general  (L.  H.  Rousseau),  not  the  fact  tl.at 
outside  of  his  duties  as  orderly,  he  was  thus  roughly 
handled,  but  that  in  passing  through  the  camp  of  the 
twenty-first,  he  was  stoned  and  driven  out  by  the  men. 
This  naturally  aroused  the  impulsive  passions  of  this  fiery 
commander  who  took  it  as  an  insult  to  himself,  and  without 
further  inquiry,  he  mounted  his  horse,  had  the  three  other 
regiments  of  the  brigade,  of  which  the  twenty-first  formed  a 
part,  under  arms,  surround  the  twenty-first,  which  he  with 
many  imprecations  dire,  ordered  to  be  formed  in  line. 
Thus  standing,  he  addressed  the  twenty-first  saying  he 
would  kill  the  man  or  men  who  attacked  his  orderly,  and 
was  determined  to  find  out  who  it  was.  The  colonel  imme- 
diately called  upon  any  man  who  had  thrown  at  the  orderly 
to  step  forward  from  the  ranks.  A  half-a-dozen  or  more, 
without  the  least  hesitation,  stepped  out.  They  were 
marched  off  to  division  headquarters  and  the  parade  dis- 
missed. In  a  short  time  thereafter  the  field  officers  waited 
upon  the  general,  protested  against  the  hasty  and  harsh 
insult  upon  the  regiment  by  surrounding  it  with  other  troops. 
The  general  was  informed  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  apologized 
and  sent  the  men  back  without  punishment.  The  slave  in 
the  meantime  had  escaped  out  of  camp  and  the  owner  did 
not  recover  him. 


BATTLE    OF    PERRY VILLE  57 

On  the  7th  of  October,  the  twenty-first  encamped  near 
Mackville.  The  enemy  was  evidently  not  far  away,  as  many 
things  indicated.  The  careful  manner  in  which  the  troops 
moved,  stray  rebel  cavalrymen  seen  on  the  flanks,  an 
occasional  artillery  shot  in  the  distance,  staff  officers  and 
orderlies  moving  back  and  forward  hastily,  as  if  bearing 
important  dispatches,  were  all  signs  of  the  coming  conflict. 
On  the  morning  of  the  8th,  it  became  the  duty  of  the 
twenty-first,  in  regular  rotation,  to  act  as  guard  to  the 
brigade  train  which  moved  with  the  train  of  the  division,  in 
the  rear  of  the  line  of  troops  of  the  whole  division.  But  we 
are  told  that  the  "  first  shall  be  last  and  the  last  first,"  which 
we  shall  now  see  was  verified  in  this  case,  because  the  regi- 
ment in  the  battle,  was  placed  in  front  of  the  line  of  the 
whole  division.  The  day  was  very  hot,  and  the  hard  clay 
soil  of  that  section  was  baked  by  the  long  drought.  The 
road  was  excessively  dusty,  the  men  suffered  exceedingly 
from  thirst,  and  the  great  dust,  raised  by  the  army  in  front 
and  the  wagons  in  the  rear.  Of  all  disagreeable  positions  in 
the  line  of  march,  that  of  wagon  guard  is  the  most  perfect 
specimen.  One  detachment  marches  in  front  of  the  wagons, 
another  behind,  and  if  the  train  is  long,  another  in  the 
centre,  while  the  whole  length  of  the  train  must  be  covered 
on  either  side  by  a  line  of  skirmishers  placed  at  least  one 
hundred  paces  from  the  train.  The  skirmishers  must  be 
relieved  periodically,  must  climb  fences,  march  through 
fields,  over  ditches,  and  keep  always  a  sharp  lookout  for  the 
enemy.  'Twas  this  way,  the  twenty-first  marched  twelve 
miles  in  the  forenoon  of  the  8th.  The  colonel  was  sick, 


58  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

riding  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  in  an  ambulance,  and 
Major  Schumacher  was  in  immediate  command.  Towards 
noon,  the  artillery  firing  ahead  became  more  frequent  and 
nearer.  The  halts  in  the  line  of  march  came  oftener  and 
lasted  longer,  indicating  trouble  in  front.  A  squad  of 
strange  cavalry  was  reported  off  our  left,  and  two  com- 
panies, B  and  C,  were  sent  in  that  direction  to  reconnoitre 
and  if  possible  attack  them.  But  this  did  not  prevent 
the  main  line  from  gradually  moving  forward.  This 
reported  cavalry  turned  out  to  be  the  right  of  the  rebel  line, 
then  formed  for  attack.  Slowly  the  wagon  train  moved  on 
through  the  heat  and  excessive  dust,  raised  by  the  whole 
army  that  preceded  it,  until  it  came  to  a  halt  within  sight 
of  the  Union  line,  formed  in  battle  array  off  the  left  of  the 
road.  This  was  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  An 
occasional  artillery  shot  towards  the  front  from  a  piece 
placed  on  a  little  knoll  was  all  that  indicated  that  the  enemy 
was  near,  but  there  was  that  indescribable  impression  in  the 
air  of  coming  conflict,  which  the  regiment  came  afterwards 
so  well  to  know.  The  colonel  sent  the  adjutant  forward 
to  report  the  twenty-first  on  hand,  and  to  ask  for  orders. 
The  adjutant  rode  rapidly  forward  and  reported  to  the 
brigade  commander,  General  Starkweather.  The  order 
from  the  brigade  commander  was  to  bring  the  regiment  to 
the  front  and  place  it  in  the  reserve  in  two  lines  immediately 
behind  the  line  of  battle.  He  indicated  the  spot — a  good 
one.  From  this  position,  it  could  have  supported  any  part 
of  the  line  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  regiment  was 
brought  forward  and  was  thus  being  placed,  when  General 


BATTLE    OF    PEKRYVILLE  59 

Rousseau  commanding  the  division,  rode  up  to  the  adjutant 
who  happened  to  be  alone  at  the  head  of  the  regiment,  the 
colonel  and  major  being  at  other  points  along  the  line  of  the 
regiment,  and  pointing  to  the  front  said,  "  Place  that  regi- 
ment in  that  corn-field,  facing  that  way,"  indicating  by  his 
hand  a  position  at  right  angles,  to  the  one  then  held,  and 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  paces  in  front. 
The  adjutant  conveyed  the  order  to  the  colonel,  who  had 
left  the  ambulance,  and  mounted  his  horse  to  assume  the 
command  in  the  battle,  and  the  regiment  was  promptly 
moved  to  the  position  indicated.  With  the  precision  of 
veteran  soldiers,  they  moved  down  the  hill  behind  which 
they  were  first  placed,  across  a  ravine,  over  a  fence,  up 
through  the  tall  and  thick  corn,  threw  out  a  line  of  left 
guides  and  went  into  place,  "on  the  right  by  file  into  line." 
This  was  all  done  under  fire  of  the  rebels,  so  severe  that 
many  men  were  shot  down  before  stepping  into  line.  These 
shots  came  over  the  heads  of  Jackson's  division,  that  had  been 
formed  in  line  in  the  front  and  to  the  right,  some  distance, 
and  were  then  opening  the  battle,  but  neither  they  nor  the 
enemy  could  be  seen  by  the  twenty-first  through  the  thick 
corn  in  front  and  the  woods  on  the  right.  Therefore  the 
twenty-first  did  not  then  fire,  but  could  do  nothing  but  wait 
the  turn  of  events  beyond  their  sight  and  knowledge.  They 
had  not  long  to  wait.  Very  soon  the  broken  and  bleeding 
troops  of  Jackson's  division  overpowered,  exhausted  by  heat 
and  marching,  many  of  them  wounded,  and  the  rest  de- 
moralized (for  they  were  mostly  new  troops),  came  pouring 
back  upon  the  line  of  the  twenty-first  in  crowds,  and  several 


60  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    vVAR 

hundred  of  them  halted  just  in  front  of  the  twenty-first,  but 
without  any  formation.  At  this  point,  General  William  R. 
Terrill,  who  commanded  a  brigade  in  Jackson's  division, 
dismounted,  and  apparently  almost  overcome  with  vexation 
and  exhaustion,  passed  to  the  rear  by  the  right  of  the  twenty- 
first.  He  said  to  the  adjutant  as  he  passed,  that  the  rebels 
were  advancing  in  terrible  force,  and  that  the  only  way  in 
which  the  twenty-first  could  avoid  being  crushed  was  to  wait 
until  they  came  near  enough,  and  then  charge  bayonets  upon 
them.  This  information  the  adjutant  hurried  to  carry  to  the 
colonel,  who  was  opposite  the  centre  of  the  line,  but  found 
him  wounded.  In  the  meantime,  the  firing  had  become 
terrific,  and  it  seemed  at  that  time  strange,  that  all  the 
firing  from  the  Federal  troops,  came  from  the  rear  of  the 
twenty-first.  Reports  came  from  the  captains  along  the  line 
that  the  men  of  the  twenty-first  were  being  killed  by  shots 
from  a  battery  in  the  rear,  and  that  there  were  no  supports 
on  our  flanks,  but  then  it  was  too  late  to  change  position 
by  the  slow  movement  of  military  tactics,  for  in  less  time 
than  it  takes  to  write  this,  a  frightful  rush  of  the  dis- 
organized troops  who  had  gathered  in  the  front  of  the 
twenty-first,  was  made  to  the  rear  through  the  ranks  of  the 
regiment,  followed  so  closely  by  the  rebel  lines  that  it  was 
impossible  for  the  excessively  timid  ones  to  resist  going  back 
with  the  rush,  and  before  the  remainder  could  again  close 
up  the  line  thus  broken,  the  enemy  had  lapped  both  flanks 
and  were  in  addition  to  firing  in  front,  enfilading  the  lines. 
The  firing  of  the  regiment  checked  for  a  time  the  rebel 
advance,  but  it  flashed  upon  the  men  at  once  that  alone,  a 


BATTLE    OF    PERRYVILLE  6l 

good  rifle  shot  in  front  of  the  Union  lines  as  then  estab- 
lished, the  twenty-first  were  absolutely  fighting  against  the 
rebel  right  wing.  The  firing  had  become  so  terrific,  that 
orders  could  not  be  heard  though  given  to  retire.  The  ex- 
ceptions are  rare  in  battle  that  regiments  fall  back,  or  in 
military  phrase,  retreat  in  unbroken  lines  under  heavy  fire. 
The  writer  of  this  does  not  remember  an  instance  in  his 
experience  that  a  regiment,  forced  back  by  a  charge  of  the 
enemy,  did  so  in  good  order.  The  only  comparative  merit 
that  one  regiment  can  claim  over  another  in  such  circum- 
stances, is  in  the  power  to  rally  at  a  convenient  point  and  be 
ready  to  again  meet  the  enemy.  The  twenty-first  was  com- 
pelled here  to  retreat  over  a  high  fence,  through  a  ravine 
and  then  up  the  face  of  a  bare  hill,  which  the  fire  of  the 
enemy  could  sweep  with  terrific  effect.  In  passing  over  the 
obstacles,  it  became  broken,  but  it  rallied  again  finely,  under 
the  fire  of  the  enemy,  in  rear  of  the  main  Union  line,  where 
it  remained  the  rest  of  the  day.  In  this  second  position, 
the  colonel  was  wounded  a  second  time,  and  was  carried 
from  the  field.  This  was  the  wound  that  disabled  him.  In 
a  very  few  minutes  after  the  rallying  of  the  twenty-first,  the 
other  regiments  of  the  brigade  fell  back  to  the  same  place. 
The  rebels  did  not  push  farther  towards  our  front,  but  kept 
up  a  continual  fire  until  it  was  quite  dark,  and  both  armies 
being  entirely  exhausted  ceased  firing  and  rested  from  the 
conflict. 

The  two  companies,  B  and  C,  which  had  been  sent  to 
look  after  the  rebel  cavalry,  reported  as  seen  off  the  left  of 
the  train,  moved  in  a  circuitous  route,  and  came  upon  the 


62  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

battle-field  after  the  twenty-first  had  taken  position  in  the 
corn-field.  Not  being  able  to  find  the  twenty-first  in  the 
regular  line  of  battle  with  the  other  regiments  of  the  brigade, 
they  reported  to  the  brigade  commander,  who  very  wisely 
decided  not  to  send  them  to  the  perilous  position  of  the 
regiment,  as  he  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  placing  the 
twenty-first  there  originally,  but  ordered  them  to  form  in 
with  the  First  Wisconsin.  They  did  so,  and  fought  with 
that  regiment  until  the  first  fell  back  to  the  second  position 
of  the  twenty-first. 

General  Lovell  H.  Rousseau  says  of  the  Twenty-first 
Wisconsin  in  his  official  report  of  the  battle  of  Perryville : 

"The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  Colonel  Sweet,  was  to  the 
front  of  these  batteries  in  a  corn-field,  lying  down  awaiting 
the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and  when  he  approached  with 
his  overwhelming  force,  this  new  regiment  poured  into  his 
ranks  a  most  withering  fire.  The  steady  advance  and  heavy 
fire  of  the  enemy  caused  a  portion  of  the  regiment  to  break 
in  confusion,  but  the  most  of  it  under  its  gallant  officers, 
stood  manfully  to  its  work,  until  forced  to  retire." 

During  the  early  part  of  the  night  of  the  8th,  a  new  line 
of  battle  was  selected  still  farther  in  the  rear,  in  a  rising 
wood.  On  the  way  thither,  the  twenty-first  passed  in  the 
dead  stillness  of  night,  made  more  oppressive  and  solemn 
by  the  contrast  with  the  thunder  and  confusion  of  battle  just 
died  away,  through  the  enclosure  of  a  country  house  which 
had  been  made  a  hospital.  The  yard  was  literally  covered 
with  the  wounded,  dead  and  dying.  The  dead  silence  was 
broken  by  the  most  painful  groans  of  the  wounded.  A  halt 


BATTLE    OF    PERRYVILLE  63 

happened  to  leave  the  twenty-first  in  this  yard  for  a  few 
moments,  where  the  men  could  look  and  learn  the  dire  re- 
sults of  war  and  exposure.  'Twas  a  sad  spectacle,  and  one 
never  to  be  forgotten.  There  lay  the  sons  of  doting  mothers, 
the  brothers  of  orphan  sisters,  the  husbands  of  wives  who 
would  be  left  alone  to  buffet  the  world's  cold  neglect,  and 
fathers  whose  age  had  not  prevented  their  responding  to  the 
call  of  country.  A  few  hours  before  they  were  as  strong 
and  full  of  hope  as  those  who  marched  by  them.  Now  they 
lay  helpless  and  dying,  far  away  from  loving  eyes  or  sooth- 
ing hands.  Could  those  who  looked  upon  them  fail  to  think 
how  narrowly  they  escaped  from  the  same  fate?  Squads 
were  sent  upon  the  field  that  night  to  bring  in  the  wounded. 
Some  of  these  found  the  enemy  in  the  same  place,  upon  the 
same  duty.  Many  Union  soldiers  were  taken  prisoners  in 
this  manner. 

The  new  position  taken  by  the  regiment  that  night  was 
occupied  for  two  days.  In  the  meantime,  the  rebels  re- 
treated. The  gth  was  occupied  in  burying  the  dead,  which 
was  done  by  a  detail  of  about  twenty  men  under  Captain 
Sessions  of  G  Company.  The  officers  killed  were  Major 
Schumacher,  Captains  Gibbs  of  E  Company,  Bently  of  H 
Company,  and  Lieutenant  Mitchell  of  C  Company.  The 
whole  number  of  officers  and  men  killed,  wounded  and 
missing  were  as  follows:  Killed,  forty-two;  wounded,  one 
hundred  and  one;  missing,  thirty-six;  total,  one  hundred 
and  seventy-nine. 

Many  criticisms  have  been  made  upon  this  battle,  both 
by  those  who  were  present  and  by  some  who  were  not. 


64  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

The  part  taken  by  the  twenty-first  was  gallant  and  creditable 
in  the  extreme.  'Tis  true  they  were  overpowered  and 
forced  back,  but  not  until  a  whole  division  (Jackson's)  in 
their  front  had  been  overpowered,  and  retreated.  The 
position  it  was  placed  in  by  the  commander  of  the  division, 
and  left  in  by  the  indifference  of  the  brigade  commander, 
was  the  refinement  of  cruelty.  It  was  between  the  fire  of 
the  enemy  and  that  of  our  own  troops  in  its  immediate  rear. 
The  other  regiments  of  the  brigade  had  then  been  a  year  in 
the  service  and  were  well  drilled  and  under  fine  discipline. 
They  were  given  good  positions  in  rear  of  the  only  new 
regiment  in  the  brigade.  Our  correct  position  was  in  line 
with  the  other  regiments  on  the  hill  behind.  The  division 
commander  afterwards  denied  ordering  the  regiment  to  this 
position,  but  I  know  that  he  did.  He  gave  me  the  order. 
This  position  of  the  regiment  was  very  precarious,  for  the 
reason  that  at  the  time  the  men  knew  nothing  of  the  battal- 
ion drill,  and  had  never  before  fired  their  pieces.  The 
manner  of  going  into  the  fight,  the  coolness  and  intrepidity 
with  which  the  men  took  position  while  being  shot  down  by 
the  enemy,  the  stubborn  resistance  given  to  him  even  after 
the  line  was  broken,  fell  under  the  eye  of  the  writer,  who 
was  not  at  all  surprised  at  the  heavy  loss  to  the  regiment. 


Benjamin  J.  Sweet. 


Echoes  of  the    Civil    (far 


CHAPTER  VI 
COLONEL  BENJAMIN  J.  SWEET 

Colonel  Sweet  wounded  and  Major  Schumacher  killed  in  the  battle  of 
Perryville — No  field  officer  with  the  regiment — The  loss  in  killed 
and  mortally  wounded  at  Perryville  one  of  the  remarkable  losses  of 
the  war — General  Buell  failed  as  a  commander  of  an  army — A 
character  sketch  of  Colonel  Benjamin  J.  Sweet. 

IN  the  battle  of  Perryville,  Colonel  Sweet  was  so  badly 
wounded  that  he  never  rejoined  the  regiment.  Major 
Schumacher  was  killed  outright.  As  the  lieutenant-colonel 
had  not  yet  joined  the  regiment,  this  battle  left  it  without  a 
field  officer.  Captain  Alexander  White  of  A  Company 
assumed  command  and  remained  in  command  until  the 
lieutenant-colonel  came  to  us  at  Lebanon,  Kentucky,  in  the 
latter  part  of  October,  1862.  William  F.  Fox,  in  his 
"  Regimental  Losses  in  the  Civil  War,"  gives  the  loss  of  the 
twenty- first  at  Perryville  in  killed  and  mortally  wounded,  as 
one  of  the  remarkable  losses  of  the  war.  The  number  is 
sixty-four  out  of  one  hundred  and  forty-three  hit  by  shot 
and  shell.  This  large  percentage  of  killed  compared  with 
the  number  wounded  shows  how  close  and  deadly  the  fight- 
ing was.  The  large  proportion  of  killed  in  the  whole  forces 
engaged  in  comparison  with  the  whole  number  struck  in 
this  battle,  is  equaled  only  by  that  of  the  battle  of  Williams- 
burg  on  the  Potomac.  Some  time  since  I  read  an  account 
of  the  battle  of  Perryville  written  by  a  member  of  another 

65 


66  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

regiment.  From  the  wording  of  the  article,  one  would 
think  that  regiment  fought  the  battle  almost  alone;  but 
when  I  looked  up  the  record,  I  found  the  loss  of  that  regi- 
ment to  be  three  wounded.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  dis- 
cuss the  battle  further,  nor  to  comment  much  on  its  general 
features.  Very  many  accounts  of  it  have  been  written.  I 
think  the  fact  is  generally  recognized,  however,  that  if  the 
Union  forces  had  been  skilfully  handled,  the  rebel  army 
should  have  been  crushed,  and  its  transportation  and 
plunder  captured.  But  instead,  Bragg  got  away  with 
everything  he  had  picked  up  in  Kentucky  and  "ran  away 
to  fight  again  another  day."  General  George  II.  Thomas 
who  was  second  in  command  to  General  D.  C.  Buell, 
showed  by  his  subsequent  success  in  winning  battles,  that  if 
he  had  commanded  there,  the  result  might  have  been  differ- 
ent. General  Buell  seemed  to  lack  the  most  essential  quality 
of  a  commander.  He  hesitated.  He  was  not  prompt  and 
aggressive  when  the  time  was  ripe.  It  seems  to  me  that  he 
ought  to  have  known  that  McCook's  corps  was  in  battle, 
and  been  up  to  the  front  with  his  staff.  Had  he  pushed  in 
all  his  available  forces  with  quickness  and  the  utmost 
energy,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Bragg  would  have  been 
crushed.  However  plausible  his  excuses  were,  the  fact  is,  a 
general  who  does  not  crush  the  enemy  when  thus  in  his 
power,  is  not  competent. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Colonel  Benjamin  J.  Sweet, 
began  at  Prescott,  Wisconsin,  early  in  June,  1861,  when  as 
major  of  the  sixth  infantry,  he  came  there  and  mustered 
into  the  state  service,  the  "  Prescott  Guards."  He  was  then 


COLONEL    BENJAMIN   J.    SWEET  67 

in  the  prime  of  early  manhood,  being  only  twenty -nine  years 
old.  His  face  was  attractive,  and  flushed  with  the  glow  of 
perfect  health.  His  brown  eye  looked  with  a  twinkle  of  ap- 
preciation upon  what  he  approved,  but  with  instant  stern- 
ness upon  what  he  disliked.  His  bearing  and  manner  were 
prompt  and  exceedingly  energetic.  He  had  before  this 
been  a  state  senator  from  Calumet  and  Manitowoc  counties. 
He  was  a  favorite  with  Governor  A.  W.  Randall,  who  ap- 
pointed him  major  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  volunteers.  As 
the  anxious  boys  of  the  guards,  then  somewhat  drilled  in 
the  school  of  the  soldier,  stood  in  line  dressed  in  red  shirts, 
black  pants,  and  gray  caps,  and  listened  to  the  eloquent 
words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  major,  predicting  for 
them  grand  achievements  in  the  coming  conflict,  it  was  an 
inspiring  picture  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  It  has  not  been 
forgotten  by  me.  As  I  now  look  back  over  the  long  line  of 
years  that  have  come  and  gone  since  then,  the  impression  is 
as  vivid  as  if  it  had  occurred  only  yesterday.  From  that 
time  until  his  death  in  1874,  my  relations  with  him  were 
very  close.  In  what  I  say  in  this  volume  of  the  Sixth 
Wisconsin  Infantry,  his  connection  with  that  regiment  is  de- 
scribed. Also  in  the  chapter  upon  the  organization  of  the 
twenty-first,  his  short  command  of  that  regiment,  and  his 
executive  ability  in  its  creation  are  set  forth. 

The  position  of  major  and  lieutenant-colonel  were  not 
congenial  to  him.  He  was  ambitious  and  sanguine.  He 
needed  at  all  times  activity  and  command.  He  chafed 
under  the  control  of  an  immediate  commander,  over  whose 
actions  he  had  no  influence,  and  for  whose  ability  he  had  no 


68  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

respect.  Hence,  when  a  new  call  was  about  to  be  made  by 
the  President  in  1862,  Colonel  Sweet  resigned  from  the 
sixth,  and  was  very  soon  commissioned  by  Governor  Solo- 
mon, colonel  of  the  twenty-first. 

With  his  accustomed  energy  and  enthusiasm,  he  visited 
in  quick  succession,  Fond  du  Lac,  Appleton,  Neenah, 
Menasha,  Oshkosh,  Chilton,  Manitowoc,  and  Waupaca.  In 
each  of  these  places,  he  either  assisted  in  organizing  a  com- 
pany or  arranged  with  companies  already  organized  to 
join  his  regiment.  He  selected  the  field  and  staff  and  rec- 
ommended to  the  governor,  the  line  officers  for  commissions. 
He  had  lived  among  the  people  of  this  district  all  his  life  ; 
he  was  a  student  at  Lawrence  University  at  Appleton ;  he 
had  ably  represented  a  portion  of  them  in  the  state  senate ; 
his  character,  his.  reputation,  his  ability  were  known  of 
them  as  those  of  a  neighbor.  The  companies  were  made  up 
of  old  acquaintances  and  companions.  He  did  not  come 
among  strangers,  nor  as  a  soldier  martinet.  The  captains 
and  first  lieutenants  of  companies  were  taken  from  among 
the  most  prominent  and  influential  men  of  the  different  lo- 
calities. In  the  governor's  office  at  Madison  was  a  list  of 
sergeants  of  regiments  in  the  field  who  had  been  recom- 
mended by  their  officers  for  promotion.  These  had  seen 
service  in  the  field  during  the  year  preceding.  From  this 
list,  the  second  lieutenants  of  the  twenty-first  were  selected. 

Criticism  and  fault-finding  are  always  dangerous  in  the 
time  of  war,  but  forty  years  after,  it  is  harmless  ;  history 
can  then  take  it  up  and  is  apt  to  place  occurrences  where 
they  really  belong.  A  little  harmless  conjecture  now  as  to 


COLONEL    BENJAMIN   J.    SWEET  69 

the  manner  of  officering  regiments  at  that  time  is  entirely 
proper.  Suppose  the  captains  had  been  selected  from  those 
lieutenants  in  the  field  who  had  shown  an  aptitude  for  mili- 
tary affairs  and  who  had  already  distinguished  themselves, 
and  the  first  and  second  lieutenants  been  elected  from  the 
ranks,  would  this  have  given  more  efficiency  from  the  be- 
ginning? The  field  officers  and  adjutant  were  all  expe- 
rienced officers  of  a  year's  service. 

If  the  captains  had  been  thus  selected,  the  drill  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  regiment  at  the  time  it  left  the  state  in  Sep- 
tember, 1862,  might  have  been  much  greater,  and  perhaps 
the  great  loss  in  the  first  battle  been  correspondingly  re- 
duced. This  is  only  conjecture,  for  the  captains  of  the 
twenty- first  did  as  well  as  average  officers  taken  from  civil 
life  could  have  done.  They  were  intelligent  in  civil  matters 
and  brave.  Their  only  lack  was,  in  some,  aptitude  for  mili- 
tary life,  and  in  all,  previous  experience,  which  not  even 
genius  can  replace.  The  one  who  remained  and  fought 
through  the  war  came  out  an  efficient  officer.  Two,  viz. : 
Gibbs  of  E  Company  and  Bently  of  H  Company,  were 
killed  in  the  first  battle.  Jewett  of  D  Company  died  of 
disease ;  six  resigned ;  one  was  promoted  major.  Not  one 
of  the  original  first  lieutenants  remained  with  the  regiment 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  Turner,  Ostenfeldt  and  Smith 
were  wounded  and  discharged.  Thus  in  time  Second  Lieu- 
tenants Edwards,  Borcherdt,  Weisbrod,  Morgan,  Randall, 
and  La  Count  Sergeants  Stuart,  Hubbard,  Otto,  Dorian, 
Watson,  and  Bradish  became  the  commanders  of  companies 
as  finely  drilled  and  as  brave  as  ever  stood  in  battle  array, 


7O  ECHOES    OF    THE   CIVIL   WAR 

but  it  took  several  months  of  precious  time  to  accomplish 
this. 

Very  few  of  the  regiment  had  opportunity  in  the  short 
time  Colonel  Sweet  remained  with  the  twenty-first  to  learn 
his  real  character.  While  extremely  social  and  fond  of 
his  friends,  the  arduous  duties  of  his  position  and  the  cold 
necessities  of  discipline  kept  him  in  those  days  from  in- 
dulging the  real  bent  of  his  nature.  He  could  make  no  ap- 
pointment without  offending  those  not  appointed.  It  was 
his  stern  duty  to  do  that  in  every  instance  which  he  con- 
ceived to  be  for  the  good  of  the  service,  irrespective  of 
friendship. 

In  the  nature  of  things,  all  the  newly  made  officers  from  civil 
life  would  ask  many  things  to  be  done  which  could  not  be 
granted.  Colonel  Sweet  was  always  equal  to  the  emergency. 
He  was  prompt  to  decide,  and  exceedingly  vigorous  in  exe- 
cution. In  the  sixth  infantry  his  position  of  major  and 
lieutenant-colonel  gave  him  leisure  to  indulge  his  natural 
disposition.  Those  who  were  then  his  companions  and 
friends  remember  his  literary  tastes,  his  warm  friendships, 
his  conversational  talents.  His  intellect  was  poetical.  Not 
only  was  he  fond  of  reading  poetry,  but  wrote  terse  gems — 
sonnets  containing  thoughts,  worthy  to  live.  Sometimes 
when  riding  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  over  those  historic 
grounds  where  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  wont  in  1861, 
to  march  and  countermarch,  his  mind  would  wander  away 
from  his  immediate  environment  into  the  realms  of  the  sweet- 
est fancy.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  music.  He  was 
not  highly  educated  in  the  schools,  but  he  was  a  constant 


COLONEL    BENJAMIN   J.    SWEET  /I 

student.  His  memory  of  what  he  had  read  was  wonderful. 
He  was  an  admirer  of  German  authors  and  read  Goethe  and 
Schiller  in  their  native  tongue.  His  reading  of  English 
authors  was  very  extensive.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  the 
rural  districts  and  on  a  farm,  but  his  superior  intellect  and 
innate  nobility  of  character  lifted  him  in  his  early  manhood 
to  a  high  plane  of  thinking  and  acting.  His  youthful  strug- 
gles had  been  too  exacting  to  allow  him  to  cultivate  French 
manners,  and  that  suavity  which  would  have  made  him 
more  superficial  friends.  But  whoever  could  break  through 
the  outer  shell  of  austerity,  which  leisure  and  the  schools 
only  could  have  polished  away,  would  find,  beneath,  nobility 
of  character  and  purity  of  motive.  Of  course  the  six  or 
eight  weeks  he  remained  with  the  twenty-first  were  far  too 
short  and  too  much  occupied  with  discipline  to  disclose  his 
inner  character  to  the  men  in  the  ranks.  Therefore,  but 
few  of  the  regiment  really  knew  Colonel  Sweet.  He  was 
not  perhaps,  at  any  time  of  his  life,  a  popular  man  ;  a  man 
to  be  popular  must  constantly  be  conceding  something — he 
must  at  times  appear  to  be  what  he  is  not.  Ordinarily,  he 
must  be  a  negative  character.  Colonel  Sweet,  on  the  other 
hand,  had  a  very  positive  nature.  Directness  was  one  of  his 
characteristics.  He  did  not  endeavor  to  appear  other  than 
what  he  was.  When  the  regiment  left  the  state  for  the  seat 
of  war,  it  was  organized,  it  is  true,  but  even  that  was  im- 
perfect. It  was  not  at  that  time  drilled  nor  under  military 
discipline.  Some  of  the  companies  were  under  better  con- 
trol than  others.  But  as  a  unit,  to  be  swayed  by  the  voice 
of  its  commanding  officer  in  battle,  to  crouch  at  a  motion  of 


72  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    \VAR 

his  hand  and  spring  upon  the  foe  like  a  royal  Bengal  tiger, 
to  make  a  charge  just  so  far  and  obey  the  recall  just  at  the 
proper  moment — these  high  qualities  came  to  it  later  by  ex- 
perience in  battle,  long  drilling  and  familiarity  with  its 
arms  and  officers ;  and  also  with  the  spade ;  but  not  in  its 
first  battle  on  the  8th  of  October,  1862,  at  Perryville.  As 
the  result  of  his  wounds  in  the  battle  of  Perryville,  Colonel 
Sweet  lay  for  months  lingering  between  life  and  death,  at  his 
home  in  Chilton.  He  never  recovered  the  use  of  his  right 
arm,  and  was  really  an  invalid  the  rest  of  his  life.  When 
he  recovered  sufficiently,  he  was  transferred  to  the  invalid 
corps  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  In  1864,  he  was  placed  in 
command  of  Camp  Douglas  at  Chicago,  in  charge  of  several 
thousand  Confederate  prisoners.  In  this  capacity,  he  de- 
veloped remarkable  ability  in  discovering  and  suppressing  a 
conspiracy  for  the  release  of  these  prisoners  and  the  burning 
of  Chicago.  He  arrested  a  number  of  prominent  Confeder- 
ates who  had  come  from  Canada,  and  their  coadjutors  in 
Chicago.  By  really  ignoring  the  city  government  and  tak- 
ing the  responsibility,  he  undoubtedly  thwarted  a  con- 
spiracy. He  never  received  the  credit  due  him  for  these 
acts.  He  was,  however,  made  a  brevet  brigadier-general. 
After  the  war,  he  became  pension  agent  at  Chicago,  then 
deputy  commissioner  of  internal  revenue  at  Washington, 
where  he  died  in  1874.  As  we  look  back  over  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  the  wonder  is  that  so 
much  could  be  accomplished  in  so  short  a  time.  In  a  little 
more  than  two  months,  the  regiment  was  recruited,  or- 
ganized, equipped,  mustered  in,  taken  by  rail  and  river 


COLONEL    BENJAMIN   J.    SWEET  73 

from  Oshkosh  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  marched  through 
the  hot  dusty  roads  to  Perryville,  and  went  into  that  fated 
corn-field  "on  the  right  by  file  into  line,"  as  bravely  as 
veterans.  The  experience  there  was  short  but  terribly  effect- 
ive. No  braver  act  did  the  regiment  perform  in  its  sub- 
sequent career  nor  during  the  rest  of  its  campaigns,  did  it 
lose  so  many  in  killed  and  wounded. 

Without  detracting  from  the  merits  of  any  one  who  after 
Perryville,  commanded  the  regiment,  and  who  performed 
none  of  the  drudgery  of  organization,  who  inherited  a  com- 
mand without  effort,  it  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret  to  General 
Sweet's  friends  that  he  who  labored  so  hard  and  accom- 
plished in  so  short  a  time  such  brilliant  results  in  the  or- 
ganization, should  have  been  so  fearfully  wounded  in  the 
first  battle,  and  could  not  command  the  regiment  in  its  older 
and  triumphant  days.  It  certainly  would  have  been  poetic 
justice  at  least,  could  one  who  did  the  drudgery  of  organiza- 
tion, the  less  heroic  and  unnoted  work  of  petty  preparation, 
could  have  reaped  the  glory  of  after  triumphs  and  its  re- 
wards; could  have  ridden  at  the  head  of  his  disciplined 
and  battle  scarred  veterans  "  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea." 


CHAPTER  VII 
FROM  PERRYVILLE  TO  STONE  RIVER 

The  feeble  pursuit  of  the  rebel  army  from  Perry ville  to  Crab  Or- 
chard— From  that  place  the  army  turned  west  and  marched  to 
Lebanon,  the  first  convenient  point  on  a  railway  connecting  with 
Louisville — The  Lieutenant-Colonel  joined  the  regiment  for  the 
first  time — Marched  from  Lebanon  to  Bowling  Green  on  the  Big 
Barren  River — Here  Surgeon  Carolin  died — An  account  of  this 
officer  given — At  Bowling  Green,  General  Buell  was  succeeded 
by  General  W.  S.  Rosecrans — Reference  to  General  Thomas'  dec- 
lination of  the  command  September  zpth  preceding — The  bri- 
gade marched  from  Bowling  Green  to  Mitchellville — Numerous 
deaths  in  the  regiment  at  Mitchellville  and  its  departure,  Decem- 
ber yth,  for  Nashville. 

OUR  division  did  not  leave  the  vicinity  of  Perryville  until 
October  nth,  following  timidly  the  retreating  rebel  army 
by  way  of  Harrodsburg  to  Crab  Orchard.  From  here  I 
wrote  home  the  following  letter : 

"  Crab  Orchard,  Kentucky, 

"  October  16,  1862. 

"Our  righting  was  done  in  a  corn-field  where  the  rebels 
did  not  discover  the  boys  until  they  rose  and  discharged  the 
contents  of  their  pieces  into  them  at  a  distance  of  twenty 
yards.  The  rebel  line  overlapped  our  regiment  on  both 
flanks,  and  still  advanced,  when  our  regiment  fell  back 
behind  a  battery  and  the  line  of  the  First  Wisconsin  and 
Seventy-ninth  Pennsylvania.  These  regiments  being  well 
placed  for  defense,  stopped  the  farther  advance  of  the  rebel 
line.  Our  colonel  was  wounded  in  the  neck  and  arm.  He 
is  now  thirty-five  miles  in  the  rear.  The  major  was  killed 
on  the  spot,  having  received  one  wound  in  the  breast  and 

74 


FROM  PERRYVILLE  TO  STONE  RIVER       75 

another  in  the  head.  .  .  .  The  boys  did  splendidly, 
considering  they  had  been  in  the  service  but  one  month, 
and  had  been  drilled  as  a  battalion  only  four  times.  They 
formed  under  a  heavy  fire,  and  before  they  got  into  line, 
began  dropping.  The  first  man  shot,  was  just  in  front  of 
me.  His  leg  was  broken  just  below  the  knee.  I  ordered 
two  men  to  carry  him  back,  and  not  until  then  did  he  know 
what  was  the  matter  with  him.  My  horse  received  a  bullet 
in  his  neck,  which  is  there  yet,  but  he  is  perfectly  well.  I 
did  not  receive  a  scratch." 


At  Crab  Orchard,  the  pursuit  was  abandoned.  Oc- 
tober 1 9th,  we  turned  west,  marched  to  Lebanon,  Ky.,  and 
went  into  camp.  At  Lebanon,  Lieutenant-Colonel  H.  C. 
Hobart  joined  the  regiment  for  the  first  time.  He  com- 
manded it  from  this  time  until  he  was  taken  prisoner  at 
Chickamauga,  September  20,  1863.  He  remained  a  pris- 
oner until  he  escaped  through  the  famous  tunnel  in  Febru- 
ary, 1864,  and  joined  the  regiment  on  Lookout  Mountain 
in  April,  1864.  In  the  latter  part  of  June,  1864,  at  Kene- 
saw,  he  was  detached  as  demi-brigade  commander.  He 
remained  detached  from  that  time  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  I  saw  Colonel  Hobart  for  the  first  time  at  Lebanon. 
He  was  then  forty-eight  years  old,  with  much  experience  in 
public  affairs.  In  1859,  he  was  the  unsuccessful  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  governor  of  Wisconsin,  against  A.  W. 
Randall,  the  Republican  candidate ;  had  been  in  the  legis- 
lature ;  was  a  good  talker,  and  a  man  of  much  influence  at 
home.  He  was  very  ambitious  and  persevering.  He  was 
sympathetic  and  looked  well  after  the  physical  welfare  of 
his  men.  He  would  not  punish  a  man  if  there  was  any  way 
to  avoid  it.  This  made  him  very  popular  with  the  men. 


76  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

His  genial  conversational  power  soon  made  him  favorably 
known  with  a  great  many  officers  of  high  and  low  rank. 
Colonel  M.  C.  Taylor,  of  the  Fifteenth  Kentucky,  General 
John  Beatty,  and  General  Lovell  H.  Rousseau  became  very 
friendly  with  him. 

From  the  time  of  leaving  Louisville,  October  ist,  until 
arriving  at  Lebanon,  the  regiment  was  without  tents.  This 
being  a  railroad  town,  we  received  the  tents  and  equipage 
again.  From  Lebanon  on  October  apth,  the  regiment 
marched  towards  Bowling  Green,  arriving  there  Novem- 
ber 4th.  That  same  night,  our  surgeon,  Samuel  J.  Carolin, 
suddenly  died  of  heart  disease.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war,  he  was  a  practicing  physician  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis- 
consin. I  do  not  think  he  was  an  old  resident  of  that  city. 
He  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  educated  as  a  physician  at 
Paris,  France,  and  appeared,  acted,  and  talked  like  an 
educated  man.  Both  at  Fond  du  Lac,  where  the  head- 
quarters of  the  regiment  was  first  established,  and  at  Osh- 
kosh,  where  the  headquarters  were  transferred  and  the  com- 
panies came  together  and  were  organized  into  the  regiment, 
I  was  thrown  a  great  deal  in  the  company  of  Dr.  Carolin,  he 
and  I  both  being  on  the  regimental  staff.  He  was  convivial, 
witty  and  scholarly.  His  conversation  habitually  drifted 
into  a  discussion  of  literature  and  science.  Unfortunately, 
he  was  very  high  tempered  and  would  frequently  allow 
himself  to  fly  into  a  passion — not  so  often  at  the  men  in  the 
ranks  (he  was  too  chivalrous  for  that),  as  at  some  of  the 
officers.  He  was  quite  fastidious  in  his  dress  and  rode  a 
rather  high-stepping  and  untamed  dapple-gray  horse.  He 


FROM    PERRYVILLE   TO    STONE    RIVER  77 

was  hardly  adapted  to  the  rough  and  tumble  life  of  the 
soldier  in  the  field.  He  was  small  of  stature  with  a  florid 
countenance,  rather  fussy  in  his  manner,  but  always  a 
gentleman  in  his  demeanor  and  knew  exactly  what  treatment 
was  due  from  one  gentleman  to  another.  He  was  a  little 
too  much  inclined  at  times  to  lay  stress  on  his  position  as 
major  and  surgeon,  for  a  new  volunteer,  but  showed  with  it 
all  so  much  real  ability  and  natural  good  fellowship,  that 
those  who  knew  him  best  soon  learned  to  like  and  respect 
him.  Without  remembering  much  about  it  now,  and  really 
knowing  little  about  it  at  the  time,  yet  my  impression  is  that 
he  organized  the  medical  department  of  the  regiment  very 
ably.  He  was  greatly  assisted  in  this  by  two  very  efficient 
assistant  surgeons,  Dr.  J.  T.  Reeve  and  Dr.  S.  L.  Fuller, 
both  of  whom  became  afterwards  full  surgeons.  I  do  not 
know  his  age,  but  he  was  so  much  older  than  I,  knew  so 
much  more  of  the  world,  and  showed  such  a  friendly  will- 
ingness, that  he  was  of  very  great  assistance  to  me  in  more 
ways  than  one.  Although  he  was  of  a  natural  military  turn, 
of  course  he  knew  nothing  of  military  drill  or  the  duties  of 
a  field  officer,  but  in  the  many  delicate  questions  that  will 
always  arise  among  men  so  closely  associated  as  officers 
constantly  are  in  a  regiment,  or  a  brigade,  or  a  division,  his 
judgment  was  very  correct.  I  was  adjutant  during  the  short 
time  the  doctor  was  with  the  regiment,  very  much  inferior 
to  him  in  rank,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  notice  that  and 
formed  with  me  the  closest  friendship.  My  impression  is 
that  he  was  not  popular  with  the  men  of  the  regiment.  He 
was  too  exacting  with  them.  I  have  been  told  it  was  the 


78  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

same  with  the  medical  officers  who  came  in  contact  with 
him.  He  was  intolerant  of  incapacity  and  blundering, 
asserted  his  rights  as  a  surgeon,  and  impressed  others  that 
he  was  inclined  to  sneer  at  them. 

The  only  battle  in  which  the  regiment  engaged  while  the 
doctor  was  with  us,  was  Perryville.  The  weather  was  hot, 
the  roads  very  dusty,  and  water  scarce.  The  regiment  was 
undrilled,  undisciplined,  and  the  men  had  not  yet  become, 
as  they  afterwards  so  finely  became,  obedient  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  service.  Their  muscles,  now  for  the  first 
time  called  into  action  by  marching  and  drilling,  were  soft. 
The  captains  and  first  lieutenants  had  never  been  in  service 
before.  The  result  was  that  the  ambulances  and  wagons  were 
filled  with  knapsacks,  accoutrements,  and  soldiers.  It  tested 
the  patience  of  Dr.  Carolin  to  care  for  them.  There  was 
naturally  a  great  deal  of  friction  between  him  and  the  cap- 
tains of  the  companies  who  wanted  to  favor  their  men.  I 
rode  at  the  head  of  the  regiment  and  did  not  see  much  of 
it,  but  Major  Schumacher  and  Dr.  Carolin  rode  in  the  rear 
and  saw  it  all.  It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  the 
doctor  and  Captain  Bently  of  H  Company  came  to  words 
and  almost  to  blows.  The  captain  either  for  himself  or  for 
some  of  his  men  wanted  to  use  an  ambulance.  For  reasons 
now  forgotten,  the  doctor  refused.  No  two  men  could  have 
been  more  in  contrast  in  their  mental  characteristics 
and  human  traits  than  these  two  officers.  Carolin,  small, 
sanguine,  high  strung,  educated,  fastidious  in  his  tastes ; 
Bently,  tall,  pale,  equally  high  strung,  blunt  as  a  westerner 
and  railroader,  uneducated.  Both  admirable  in  their  high 


FROM    PERRYVILLE   TO    STONE    RIVER  79 

sense  of  duty,  their  bravery,  and  their  honest  man- 
hood. 

It  is  not  necessary  now  to  remember  the  details  of  the 
short,  sharp,  and  decisive  controversy,  but  it  was  just  before 
the  battle.  The  captain  went  into  the  battle  with  his  com- 
pany and  was  killed  on  the  field  that  same  afternoon.  While 
we  were  standing  in  that  well  remembered  corn-field,  whose 
green  stalks  were  soon  reddened  with  the  blood  of  the  blue 
and  the  gray,  the  doctor  rode  to  us  on  his  dappled  gray, 
through  a  heavy  fire  of  the  enemy,  with  an  order  from 
Starkweather  for  the  men  to  lie  down.  It  should  have  been 
an  order  to  change  position  to  the  line  of  the  brigade.  It 
was  with  difficulty  by  reason  of  the  firing  he  could  get  his 
horse  near  enough  to  deliver  the  order.  But  he  not  only 
rode  to  the  position  of  the  colonel,  but  to  mine  also,  near  the 
line  on  the  right,  said  a  few  pleasant  words,  then  slowly  rode 
back  again  to  Starkweather  behind  the  position  of  the  First 
Wisconsin,  some  distance  in  our  rear.  It  was  an  act  of 
bravery,  for  it  was  not  his  duty  to  carry  an  order  from 
Starkweather  to  the  front  line,  and  I  suspect  he  made 
the  suggestion  to  Starkweather  and  then  volunteered  to 
deliver  it.  It  was  a  brave  and  chivalrous  act.  At  the 
same  time,  every  soldier  can  raise  his  hat  to  the  memory 
of  brave  Captain  George  Bently  who  was  killed  in  the 
midst  of  the  battle  on  the  front  line,  near  where  Major 
Schumacher  fell. 

At  night  after  the  battle  had  died  away,  I  was  standing  by 
a  bivouac  fire  when  Carolin  joined  me.  He  had  just  come 
from  the  hospital  where  Colonel  Sweet  lay  wounded,  his 


SO  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

arm  shattered  at  the  elbow.  He  explained  to  me  the  exact 
nature  of  Sweet's  wound,  and  said  he  desired  to  take  off 
the  arm,  but  that  Sweet  himself,  and  the  other  surgeons  ob- 
jected. He  then  told  me  that  if  the  arm  was  taken  off, 
Sweet  would  likely  get  well  and  rejoin  the  regiment  in  three 
months,  but  if  it  were  not  taken  off,  he  might  die,  and 
would  certainly  linger  in  pain  for  a  year  or  more,  and 
might  never  be  able  to  join  the  regiment.  The  conversa- 
tion was  of  considerable  length,  and  made  an  impression  on 
my  mind.  The  arm  was  not  taken  off,  and  the  prediction 
then  made  by  Carolin  was  literally  fulfilled. 

Colonel  Sweet  came  near  dying.  The  shattered  arm  was 
painful  and  unhealed  for  months,  and  he  never  rejoined  his 
regiment  but  was  finally,  eleven  months  after  the  battle, 
transferred  to  the  invalid  corps.  His  arm  remained  stiff  as 
long  as  he  lived.  He  could  not  bend  the  elbow  joint.  I 
have  frequently  wondered  what  the  result  would  have  been, 
had  the  arm  been  taken  off. 

At  Murfreesboro  in  the  spring  of  1863,  Dr.  E.  B.  Wolcott 
of  Milwaukee  was  visiting  our  regiment.  In  speaking  then 
of  Sweet's  condition,  he  said  the  arm  saved  was  worth  more 
to  Sweet  than  the  whole  state  of  Tennessee.  I  doubt  that 
statement  very  decidedly.  I  afterwards  learned  from  Dr. 
James  T.  Reeve  that  before  Colonel  Sweet  was  placed  under 
the  influence  of  chloroform  for  the  examination  and  probing 
of  his  wound,  he  exacted  a  promise  from  him  and  perhaps 
the  other  surgeons,  that  his  arm  should  not  be  taken  off. 
When  the  examination  was  made,  Carolin  wanted  to  am- 
putate the  arm.  The  others  would  not  consent  to  violate 


FROM    PERRYVILLE   TO    STOKE    RIVER  8 1 

the  promise  to  Sweet.  Carolin  said  their  duty  as  surgeons 
was  to  do  the  best  thing  for  the  patient,  that  he  (the  patient) 
did  not  know  what  was  best.  From  a  surgeon's  standpoint, 
Dr.  Carolin  was  probably  right.  All  the  surgeons  present, 
however,  should  have  united  in  a  firm  request  to  Colonel 
Sweet,  to  allow  the  arm  to  be  amputated,  and  first  obtain 
his  consent  to  the  amputation. 

While  talking  at  this  camp-fire  with  Dr.  Carolin,  a  certain 
captain  of  the  twenty-first  came  up  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  fire,  holding  one  of  his  hands  in  the  other,  and  express- 
ing great  pain  in  his  face.  He  said  nothing  to  the  doctor, 
but  the  latter  gave  him  one  quick  glance  across  the  fire  and 
quietly  pulled  a  pocket  lance  out  of  his  vest  pocket,  unseen 
by  the  captain.  Holding  the  lance  between  his  thumb  and 
forefinger  of  his  right  hand  so  that  the  captain  should  not 
see  it,  he  continued  the  conversation  with  me  a  short  time, 
then  very  deliberately  walked  around  the  fire  to  where  the 
captain  was  standing  and  casually  asked  him  what  the  mat- 
ter was  with  his  hand.  The  captain  unsuspectingly  held 
out  his  hand  to  the  doctor  and  pointed  to  a  small  spot  near 
the  end  of  one  of  his  fingers.  Instantly  the  doctor  saw  it 
was  an  incipient  felon.  Gently  pulling  the  hand  down 
nearer  to  the  light  of  the  fire  until  he  saw  just  where  to  strike, 
he  sent  that  lance  to  the  finger  bone  in  a  flash.  As  he 
drew  it  out  the  suppuration  followed  the  blade ;  the  captain 
gave  one  leap  into  the  air,  and  it  was  all  over,  the  pain  dis- 
appeared instantly.  I  thought  for  an  instant  that  the  cap- 
tain would  strike  the  doctor  but  he  did  not.  He  was  taken 
completely  by  surprise,  however. 


&2  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

The  doctor's  diagnosis  of  Colonel  Sweet's  condition,  the 
confidence  with  which  he  predicted  the  results  that  actually 
came  to  pass  and  this  quick,  unhesitating,  although  simple 
surgical  operation,  without  saying,  "by  your  leave,"  were 
conclusive  proofs  of  a  well  equipped  surgeon  and  a  very 
"  nervy  "  man.  A  more  timid  and  conscientious  surgeon 
would  have  parleyed  and  argued  the  matter  with  the  patient, 
thus  gaining  his  friendship,  but  not  curing  the  pain  and  sub- 
sequent suffering. 

While  in  camp  at  Lebanon,  Kentucky,  we  rested  com- 
fortably for  the  first  time  in  a  real  camp  since  leaving  Louis- 
ville about  October  ist.  In  the  interim  between  the  battle 
and  this  camp,  some  foolish  scribbler  in  the  regiment  had 
sent  a  letter  back  to  Wisconsin  reflecting  on  the  action  of 
the  Seventy-ninth  Pennsylvania  in  the  battle  of  Perryville. 
It  was  published  in  some  paper,  and  in  some  way  a  copy 
had  found  its  way  back  and  into  the  hands  of  Colonel  Ham- 
bright  of  that  regiment.  He  very  indignantly  wrote  a  let- 
ter addressed  either  to  me  or  the  captain  in  command  of  the 
twenty-first,  asking  that  something  be  done  about  it,  and 
also  containing  a  covert  threat  if  the  matter  was  not  cor- 
rected, etc.  I  consulted  Dr.  Carolin  as  to  the  proper 
answer  to  make  to  that  letter  and  upon  his  advice,  wrote 
Colonel  Hambright  that  our  commanding  officer  could  not 
reply  properly  to  his  letter,  until  the  threat  therein  was 
formally  withdrawn.  Just  at  this  stage  of  the  affair,  Colonel 
Hobart  arrived.  I  laid  the  whole  correspondence  before 
him  and  he  highly  approved  of  the  reply  to  Hambright.  I 
do  not  now  remember  how  it  finally  terminated.  I  mention  it 


FROM    PERRY VILLE   TO    STONE    RIVER  83 

only  to  show  how  tactful  the  doctor  was,  and  how  intel- 
lectually helpful. 

The  night  that  Carolin  died,  we  sat  up  late  at  the  head- 
quarters camp-fire,  made  of  seasoned  logs.  The  talk  had 
drifted  into  a  discussion  of  some  literary  subject,  now  for- 
gotten. The  fire  had  died  down  and  I  retired  to  my  couch 
in  a  tent  close  by,  leaving  the  colonel  and  the  doctor  still 
talking  in  the  glare  of  the  splendid  bed  of  coals.  As  I  lost 
consciousness  the  sound  of  their  voices  seemed  to  die 
away.  In  the  morning,  I  was  informed  that  the  doctor  was 
dead. 

Thus  passed  away  two  of  the  most  striking  characters  in 
the  regiment,  the  doctor  and  Captain  Bently  who  perhaps 
never  saw  each  other  after  the  little  episode  in  the  march 
just  before  the  battle  of  Perry ville,  and  this  chapter  contains 
nearly  all  that  I  can  now  remember  of  either  after  we  left 
the  camp  at  Oshkosh,  in  September,  1862.  For  those  were 
busy  days  that  left  little  time  for  social  intercourse.  In  less 
than  two  short  months  from  muster-in,  both  were  dead. 
One  died  by  the  bullet  of  the  enemy,  the  other  in  no  less  an 
effective  manner ;  both  by  the  dread  enemy  of  all  mankind 
— one  as  sudden  as  the  other.  I  do  not  know,  but  I  con- 
jecture that  their  remains  lie  in  near  by  graves  at  Fond  du 
Lac.  The  same  epitaph  can  consistently  be  written  above 
both  graves  :  "  Peace  to  the  ashes  of  the  brave." 

We  lay  at  Bowling  Green  until  November  loth.  In  that 
time,  General  W.  S.  Rosecrans  relieved  General  Buell  in 
command  of  the  army.  I  remember  riding  out  with  some 
other  officers  to  meet  General  Rosecrans.  They  all  gave 


84  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

him  a  hearty  welcome.  He  had  been  a  successful  com- 
mander in  West  Virginia  and  Mississippi,  and  came  with  a 
fine  reputation.  On  assuming  command  he  had  the  army 
placed  in  line  and  made  a  short  address  to  almost  every 
regiment.  Buell  did  not  accompany  him.  In  fact  I  never 
saw  Buell,  to  know  him.  But  General  Rosecrans  was  visi- 
ble almost  every  day  he  remained  with  the  army.  The  of- 
ficial records  show  that  at  Louisville  on  September  apth,  the 
command  of  this  army  was  offered  by  the  War  Department 
to  General  George  H.  Thomas.  He  declined  it,  saying 
among  other  things  in  his  letter  to  General  Halleck,  "  Gen- 
eral Buell's  preparations  have  been  completed  to  move 
against  the  enemy"  (at  Perry ville),  "and  I  therefore 
respectfully  ask  that  he  may  be  retained  in  command.  My 
position  is  very  embarrassing,  not  being  as  well  informed  as 
I  should  be  as  the  commander  of  this  army,  and  on  the  as- 
sumption of  such  responsibility." 

On  the  strength  of  that  dispatch,  the  secretary  of  war 
and  General  Halleck  at  that  time  commander-in-chief 
refused  after  the  battle  of  Perryville  to  appoint  him, 
although  it  was  determined  to  remove  Buell.  Rosecrans 
was  appointed  because,  as  they  said,  Thomas  had  once 
refused,  and  they  could  not  appoint  him  a  second  time. 
Why  could  they  not  have  done  so?  Thomas  had  de- 
clined in  the  face  of  a  battle  only.  There  was  nothing 
in  his  letter  that  could  be  construed  other  than  a  temporary 
embarrassment  on  his  part  at  being  invited  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  army  on  the  eve  of  a  battle,  for  in  two  days 
the  army  marched  for  that  purpose.  Thomas  must  have 


FROM    PERRYVILLE    TO   STONE    RIVER  85 

taken  it  for  granted  from  the  wording  of  his  dispatch  that 
he  was  appealing  to  friends  and  companions  at  Washington 
who  would  appreciate  and  sympathize  with  his  own  feelings. 
But  they  were  not  sympathizing  friends.  They  cared  noth- 
ing for  him,  nor  his  feelings.  They  wanted  him  just  then  to 
supersede  Bnell  because  he  was  available.  Afterwards 
when  the  battle  had  been  fought,  and  practically  lost,  and 
there  was  ample  time  to  look  up  some  one  else,  they  cared 
no  more  for  General  Thomas'  real  qualifications  and  feel- 
ings than  they  did  for  Buell.  Afterwards  when  Rosecrans 
failed  and  General  Thomas  under  him  had  greatly  added 
to  his  own  reputation,  they  were  forced  to  give  him  com- 
mand of  that  same  army,  largely  upon  the  recommendation 
of  Charles  A.  Dana,  assistant  secretary  of  war,  based  on  what 
Thomas  had  done  at  Chickamauga.  I  have  always  thought 
that  General  Thomas  made  a  great  mistake  in  this  declina- 
tion, to  which  I  refer  in  the  chapter  on  him,  not  only  for 
his  own  personal  future,  but  more  especially  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  army  and  the  country.  But  the  powers  at 
Washington  made  a  greater  one  when  they  refused  to  ap- 
point him  at  Bowling  Green.  Had  he  promptly  accepted 
at  Louisville,  and  reorganized  the  army  for  the  pending 
campaign,  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  an  entirely  different 
battle  would  have  been  fought,  not  necessarily  at  Perryville. 
In  the  light  of  Thomas'  subsequent  history  to  the  close  of  the 
war,  it  gives  one  the  shivers  now  to  think  that  Thomas  was 
standing  idly  by  without  real  command  at  Perryville,  while 
McCook,  Crittenden  and  Gilbert  each  was  in  command  of 
a  corps.  J.  J.  Crittenden,  Garrett  Davis  and  R.  Mallory, 


86  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

old  Kentuckians,  and  then  civilians,  made  a  written  protest 
September  29,  1862,  to  the  President  against  the  removal  of 
Buell.  They  were  satisfied  with  the  do-nothing  policy. 
On  the  contrary,  Governor  Todd  of  Ohio,  wrote  Secretary 
Stanton  under  date  of  October  30th,  "  With  one  voice,  so 
far  as  it  has  reached  me,  the  army  from  Ohio  demand  the 
removal  of  General  Buell."  No  wonder,  after  the  war,  Gen- 
eral Buell  settled  down,  and  lived  among  his  Kentucky  friends. 
General  Rosecrans'  letter  to  General  Buell  is  as  follows  : 

"  Gait  House,  Louisville,  Kentucky, 

"  October,  jo,  1862. 
"  MAJOR-GENERAL  D.  C.  BUELL, 

"  Gait  House. 

"GENERAL  : 

"  Enclosed  I  transmit  the  authorized  letter  of 
General  Halleck  directing  you  on  its  presentation  to  turn 
over  your  present  command  to  me  and  report  at  Indian- 
apolis for  orders.  I  know  the  bearer  of  unwelcome  news  has 
a  '  losing  office,'  but  feel  assured  you  are  too  high  a  gentle- 
man and  too  true  a  soldier  to  permit  this  to  produce  any 
feelings  of  personal  unkindness  between  us.  I,  like  your- 
self, am  neither  an  intriguer  nor  a  newspaper  soldier.  I  go 
where  I  am  ordered  ;  but  propriety  will  permit  me  to  say 
that  I  have  often  felt  indignant  at  the  petty  attacks  on  you 
by  a  portion  of  the  press,  during  the  past  summer,  and  that 
you  had  my  high  respect  for  ability  as  a  soldier,  for  your 
firm  adherence  to  truth  and  justice  in  the  government  and 
discipline  of  your  command.  I  beg  of  you  by  our  common 
profession,  and  the  love  we  bear  our  common  country,  to 
give  me  all  the  aid  you  can  for  the  performance  of  duties 
of  which  no  one  better  than  yourself,  knows  the  difficul- 
ties. .  . 

"Very  truly  and  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  S.  ROSECRANS, 

"Major-General." 


FROM    PERRYVILLE   TO   STONE    RIVER  / 

General  Grant  had  just  been  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  thirteenth  corps  in  Mississippi.  Our  army  at  Bowling 
Green  was  then  designated  as  the  fourteenth  corps.  Sheri- 
dan was  inconspicuously  in  command  of  a  division  in  the 
army  under  Rosecrans.  Sherman  was  with  Grant  in  com- 
mand of  a  division  called  the  right  wing  of  the  thirteenth 
corps.  Of  the  four  great  generals,  Grant,  Thomas,  Sherman, 
and  Sheridan,  who  in  1864,  came  to  the  top  and  finished 
the  rebellion,  none  of  them  were  very  conspicuous  in  1862. 
Halleck,  Rosecrans  and  Burnside  were  in  the  saddle. 
McClernand  was  near  the  top.  Grant,  however,  had  at- 
tracted attention  ever  since  Donaldson,  and  Thomas  had 
just  declined  the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Cumber- 
land. McClellan  and  Pope  had  already  gone  down. 

On  November  loth  the  regiment  left  Bowling  Green  for 
Mitchellville,  a  station  on  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  rail- 
way, thirty-five  miles  north  of  Nashville.  The  long  railroad 
tunnel  here  had  been  blown  up  by  the  rebels.  Starkweather's 
brigade  was  stationed  here  from  November  tothto  December 
7,  1862,  as  guard  to  the  station  and  the  immense  quantity 
of  supplies  coming  by  rail  from  Louisville,  and  transported 
by  wagon  from  here  to  Nashville.  The  brigade  was  com- 
posed of  the  First  and  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  Seventy-ninth 
Pennsylvania,  and  Twenty-fourth  Illinois,  the  same  as  at 
Perryville.  The  weather  was  now  very  cold.  The  country 
was  level.  The  rains  were  frequent,  and  the  mud  deep. 
The  responsibility  was  very  great.  The  temptation  to  at- 
tack us  and  try  to  capture  the  large  amount  of  federal 
stores  was  very  strong  to  the  enemy.  A  large  and  vigilant 


88  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

picket  was  maintained  day  and  night.  In  the  coldest  and 
foggiest  hour  of  the  day — just  before  daylight,  the  whole 
brigade  was  formed  in  line  of  battle  every  day  to  repel 
any  possible  attack.  Pneumonia  became  very  prevalent. 
Previous  exposure  and  hardship,  especially  lying  at  night 
in  all  kinds  of  weather,  without  tents,  had  depleted  the 
vitality  of  the  men.  The  flag  on  the  pole  at  headquarters 
was  seen  at  half-mast  and  the  solemn  funeral  march  was 
heard  almost  daily.  The  quiet  graves  that  billowed  a 
secluded  grove  not  far  from  the  station  for  years,  until 
they  were  removed  to  the  national  cemetery,  told  the 
havoc  death  made  in  the  ranks.  Among  those  who  died 
here  was  Captain  John  Jewett,  Jr.,  of  D  Company.  Pneu- 
monia was  especially  fatal  to  the  Menominee  Indians  of  the 
regiment.  They  did  not  stand  this  kind  of  exposure  as  well 
as  white  men. 

I  find  the  following  letter  written  from  this  point ; 

"  Mitchellville  Station,  Tennessee, 

"November  25,  1862. 

"  There  is  more  of  a  prospect  that  we  shall  remain  in 
camp  for  awhile  than  ever  before.  We  are  about  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  miles  from  Louisville  and  thirty-seven  from 
Nashville,  on  the  railroad  between  the  two  places.  This  is 
the  present  terminus  of  the  constant  shipment  by  rail  from 
Louisville,  and  reshipment  by  wagon  to  the  army  now  en- 
camped around  Nashville.  There  is  no  field  officer  with 
the  regiment  and  I  am  in  command.  Every  morning  at 
five  o'clock,  we  form  line  of  battle  and  remain  thus  thirty 
minutes  to  guard  against  a  surprise  by  the  enemy.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  sickness.  In  the  last  seven  days,  there  have 
been  seven  deaths.  A  poor  boy  in  the  ranks  died  last  night, 
having  been  sick  only  yesterday.  We  buried  two  day  be- 
fore yesterday  and  two  more  are  lying  dead  now.  .  .  . 


FROM    PEURYVILLE    TO   STONE    RIVER  89 

Day  after  tomorrow  will  be  Thanksgiving.  The  chaplain 
is  planning  a  large  chicken  potpie  for  our  mess.  I  am 
drilling  in  the  manual  of  the  knife  and  fork,  in  order  to  at- 
tack it  in  gallant  style.  The  potpie  will  be  flanked  by 
potatoes  and  beans,  with  what  preserved  forces  the  sutler 
may  have,  closed  in  mass.  I  am  commander  of  the  attack- 
ing party,  and  have  already  called  for  reinforcements.  Be- 
sides the  chaplain  who  fights  more  with  his  tongue  than  his 
sword,  the  surgeon  (Dr.  J.  T.  Reeve)  and  his  wife,  who  is 
now  visiting  him  from  Appleton,  Wisconsin,  who  will  charge 
one  wing  of  the  chicken,  will  make  a  very  effective  attack- 
ing force.  Don't  you  think  the  victory  will  be  ours?  I 
have  just  read  this  plan  of  attack  to  the  chaplain,  and  he 
approves  highly  of  it." 

On  December  yth,  the  regiment  left  here  for  Nashville, 
and  on  the  gth  joined  the  rest  of  Rousseau's  division  in 
Camp  Andy  Johnson,  about  five  miles  south  of  Nashville. 

On  December  17,  1862,  at  Camp  Andy  Johnson,  at  Nash- 
ville I  wrote, 

"  The  scenery  is  fine  about  Nashville.  Upon  most  of  the 
march  through  Kentucky,  the  country  was  very  uninviting. 
So  tired  were  we  of  the  marches  that  everything  pleasant  was 
lost  on  the  senses.  Nashville  appears  to  have  been  once  a 
pleasant  city.  Now  it  is  clogged  by  the  war  and  has  the 
appearance  of  all  others  cities  surrounded  by  soldiers.  I 
live  in  a  tent  on  the  ground  now,  whereas  last  winter  on 
Arlington  Heights  on  the  Potomac,  a  nice  cabin  with  board 
floor  made  camp  life  more  endurable.  This  difference  tells 
the  story  of  the  two  armies.  All  days  are  alike  to  the  army. 
Sundays  often  come  and  go  without  my  knowledge,  though, 
now  I  tent  with  the  chaplain,  he  reminds  me  often  of  the 
approach  of  Sunday.  Christmas  and  New  Year's  will  be  the 
same." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER 

On  December  26th,  the  regiment  left  Nashville  for  Stone  River — De- 
flected at  Stewartsboro  to  Jefferson — The  fight  with  Wheeler's 
Cavalry  at  Jefferson — The  inaccurate  official  reports  of  that  affair 
— The  regiment  led  by  its  adjutant  saved  the  train. 

WE  remained  in  Camp  Andy  Johnson  until  December  26th. 
Christmas  day  was  spent  here,  but  the  following  morning  at 
daylight,  the  army  was  on  the  road  to  Stone  River,  where 
Bragg  was  again  lying  in  wait  for  us,  entrenched.  The 
movement  began  in  a  drenching  rain.  The  distance  was 
thirty  miles.  The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  then  belonged  to 
the  third  brigade,  still  commanded  by  Starkweather,  first 
division  under  Rousseau,  fourteenth  army  corps,  as  the 
whole  army  was  then  called.  On  the  morning  of  the  3oth, 
the  army  was  in  line  of  battle  on  Stone  River,  confronting 
Bragg's  army.  General  Thomas,  under  whom  we  served, 
commanded  what  was  called  the  centre,  General  A.  McD. 
McCook,  the  right  wing,  and  General  T.  T.  Crittenden  the 
left.  The  evening  before,  our  brigade  was  detached  from 
its  division,  and  sent  to  our  left  on  the  road  from  Stewarts- 
boro to  Jefferson,  a  village  lying  eight  miles  northeast  of  the 
battle-field,  where  a  bridge  crosses  Stone  River.  We  were 
then  on  the  left  flank  of  the  Union  army,  to  protect  it  from 
the  enemy's  cavalry.  It  was  after  dark  when  the  brigade 

90 


THE  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER          91 

left  Stewartsboro.  The  wagon  train  of  the  brigade,  consist' 
ing  of  sixty-four  wagons  drawn,  some  by  four  and  others 
by  six  mules  each,  was  left  back  to  follow  up  the  next  morn- 
ing. The  brigade  arrived  near  Jefferson  late  in  the  night. 
After  halting,  each  of  the  four  regiments  marched  into  an 
open  field,  by  file  right,  stacked  arms  and  bivouacked  imme- 
diately behind  the  stands  of  arms.  This  movement  brought 
each  line  of  stacks  a  regiment's  length  from  the  other.  We 
threw  out  pickets  in  a  circle  around  the  entire  brigade  for  the 
night,  and  then  slept  soundly  until  morning  on  the  ground. 
In  a  small  way,  I  have  always  felt  satisfied  with  myself 
for  the  part  I  took  in  the  fight  next  morning  with  Wheeler's 
cavalry,  for  the  reason  that  the  effect  was  visible  in  the  sav- 
ing of  a  large  part  of  that  train  left  back  the  night  before  at 
Stewartsboro.  And  also  for  the  fact  that  while  Colonel 
Hobart  and  General  Starkweather  did  not  approve  of  what  I 
did,  yet  evidently  on  account  of  its  success,  they  said  noth- 
ing about  it  either  to  me  or  in  their  reports  of  the  affair. 
This  train  had  been  put  in  the  finest  condition  while  we  lay 
so  long  at  Camp  Johnson.  The  mules  were  sleek  and  fat, 
and  the  harness  new.  The  wagon  covers  were  new  and 
white,  glistening  in  the  morning  sun.  As  it  wound  over  a 
hill  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  rear  of  our  bivouac  that  morn- 
ing of  the  3oth,  it  was  very  conspicuous.  I  had  just  finished 
breakfast  and  walked  out  to  the  edge  of  the  road.  Lieuten- 
ant R.  J.  Weisbrod  was  near  me  and  we  were  speaking  ad- 
miringly of  the  fine  sunshiny  morning  and  the  scenery, 
from  our  position.  We  saw  the  train  coming  over  the  hill. 
The  entire  camp  equipage  of  the  brigade,  the  commissary, 


92  ECHOES   OF    THE    CIVIL   \VAR 

quartermaster  and  medical  supplies  were  in  that  train,  as 
well  as  the  officers'  baggage.  About  fifty  invalids  of  our 
regiment  were  with  it.  It  can  then  well  be  imagined  that 
we  not  only  watched  its  coming  with  admiration  for  its  fine 
appearance,  but  also  with  much  anxious,  selfish  interest  in 
its  well-being.  The  picket  was  about  half  a  mile  down  the 
road  towards  the  train.  My  standing  in  that  particular  spot 
at  that  hour  in  the  morning  was  without  any  special  object, 
although  it  happened  to  be  at  just  the  moment  when  the 
train  began  to  appear  in  sight.  At  that  time,  our  regiment 
was  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hobart,  the  only 
field  officer  present.  To  explain  the  action  I  took  at  that 
time,  I  will  say  that  for  some  time  after  the  battle  of  Perry- 
ville  and  before  Colonel  Hobart  joined  the  regiment  at 
Lebanon,  Kentucky,  I  practically  commanded  the  regiment 
in  all  its  movements,  although  the  senior  captain  was 
nominally  in  command.  The  officers  and  men  of  the  regi- 
ment understood  this  and  seemed  to  readily  acquiesce. 
They  obeyed  all  the  orders  I  gave.  While  I  am  satisfied 
that  the  line  officers  never  found  any  fault  with  what  I  did 
at  this  time,  yet  I  was  informed  for  the  first  time,  twenty- 
five  years  after  the  war,  that  when  it  occurred,  severe  stric- 
tures were  made  upon  it  by  others.  Hence,  this  explana- 
tion, not  by  way  of  apology,  for  the  result  shows  very  con- 
clusively that  none  is  required. 

Colonel  Hobart,  Chaplain  O.  P.  Clinton,  I  think  a 
medical  officer,  but  which  one  I  have  forgotten  and  myself 
messed  together,  and  had  just  finished  breakfast  in  the  open 
air  at  the  left  of  the  regiment  near  the  road.  The  lieutenant- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER          93 

colonel  had  mounted  his  horse  and  very  properly  ridden  to 
the  front  to  see  what  was  there,  and  take  observation  gen- 
erally upon  our  surroundings.  This  took  him,  however,  in 
the  opposite  direction  from  the  location  of  the  pending 
trouble,  while  at  the  same  time  I  happened  to  walk  out  to 
the  road.  The  men  were  all  near  their  stacks  of  arms  in 
various  positions  and  occupations.  Some  were  standing, 
others  sitting ;  some  were  sunning  their  blankets,  others 
looking  over  their  muskets,  others  cleaning  up  the  breakfast 
dishes.  Had  a  snap  shot  been  made  on  them  from  a  kodak, 
the  picture  would  have  shown  the  usual  appearance  of 
about  four  hundred  soldiers  in  bivouac  behind  their  arms, 
in  no  expectation  of  immediate  trouble,  but  ready  to  obey 
in  a  moment  any  command  from  their  recognized  officers. 
Three  regiments  lay  in  the  same  manner  in  front  of  them 
and  beyond  sight — the  Twenty-fourth  Illinois,  First  Wis- 
consin Infantry,  and  the  Seventy-ninth  Pennsylvania — the 
nearest,  a  regiment's  length  away.  The  brigade  head- 
quarters were  somewhere  in  the  lines  of  the  camp,  but  I  had 
not  yet  ascertained  where,  but  not  in  view  from  our  position. 
While  thus  looking  down  the  road,  I  noticed  while  the  train 
was  yet  fully  a  mile  away,  a  peculiar  wabbling  motion  of  the 
wagons,  with  a  break  here  and  there,  in  places,  and  general 
confusion.  There  was  no  mistaking  such  signs.  I  in- 
stinctively and  instantly  turned  to  the  regiment  and  gave 
the  command  as  loud  and  as  distinct  as  I  could,  "  Fall  in  !  " 
While  they  were  executing  this  I  sent  an  orderly  to  brigade 
headquarters  with  the  information  that  the  train  was  attacked 
a  mile  away,  and  told  the  same  orderly  to  try  to  find  Colonel 


94  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Hobart  and  inform  him.  I  buckled  on  my  side  arms,  and 
then  gave  the  commands  in  as  quick  succession  as  the  men 
could  execute  them.  "Take  arms,"  "Shoulder  arms," 
"Right  shoulder  shift  arms,"  "Left  face,"  "  Double  quick, 
file  left  march "  (Casey's  tactics  were  then  in  use),  and 
away  we  went  left  in  front  down  the  pike  towards  that  train 
at  a  fast  double-quick.  We  soon  passed  the  picket,  and  the 
first  man  of  the  train  we  met  was  Quartermaster  Hamilton 
of  our  regiment  coining,  his  horse  on  the  run.  A  bullet  had 
just  been  fired  into  his  horse  from  behind.  As  he  ap- 
proached us  he  said,  "  I  never  was  so  glad  to  see  anybody 
in  my  life."  A  few  hundred  yards  farther  on,  we  met  the 
head  of  the  train,  the  mules  in  a  run  and  greatly  distressed, 
while  on  each  side  of  the  train,  rapidly  gaining  on  the  head 
wagon,  was  a  line  of  detached  Confederate  cavalry,  pistols 
in  hand,  firing  and  hallooing  to  the  drivers  to  stop.  Our 
regiment  was  in  two  ranks,  and  when  we  reached  the  head 
wagon,  we  opened  out,  allowing  the  train  to  come  between, 
but  kept  on  the  double-quick  until  we  came  to  the  rear  of 
the  train,  the  Confederate  cavalry  falling  back  as  we 
advanced.  We  then  halted,  formed  across  the  road  and 
commenced  firing  at  a  lot  of  Confederate  cavalry  imme- 
diately in  our  front  who  were  apparently  preparing  to  charge 
our  line. 

The  train  went  on  into  camp  (what  was  left  of  it),  and  we 
soon  discovered  that  the  woods  a  few  hundred  yards  in 
front  of  us  was  apparently  full  of  Confederate  cavalry,  and 
that  we  would  have  our  hands  full  to  hold  alone  the  advanced 
position  we  had  taken.  At  this  time,  Colonel  Hobart  rode 


THE    BATTLE    OF   STONE    RIVER  95 

up  very  rapidly  and  took  command.  But  the  train  was 
already  saved,  whatever  might  become  of  us,  for  we  stood 
there  between  it  and  danger,  and  before  that  rebel  force 
could  break  through  our  line,  the  balance  of  the  brigade 
could  be  in  line  in  front  of  the  train. 

Perhaps  a  hundred  yards  to  the  right  of  where  we  formed 
across  the  road  was  a  sharp  rise  of  ground,  on  top  of  which 
was  a  log  schoolhouse  surrounded  by  a  good  rail  fence. 
Seeing  that  the  enemy  greatly  outnumbered  our  regiment, 
and  that  in  case  they  advanced  on  us  in  force,  our  position 
was  untenable,  I  suggested  to  Colonel  Hobart  that  he  take 
position  with  the  regiment  at  the  schoolhouse,  behind  the 
fence,  which  he  very  promptly  did.  The  firing  on  both 
sides  was  now  brisk  at  long  range,  but  the  enemy  evidently 
was  not  there  for  a  fight,  and  did  not  seriously  charge,  but 
held  his  position  in  the  woods.  Two  pieces  of  artillery 
from  Stone's  Kentucky  battery  were  eventually  brought  up 
to  the  position  and  the  woods  shelled.  I  remember  that  I 
was  very  anxious  for  the  other  regiments  to  come  up,  so  we 
could  advance  and  retake  the  wagons  which  the  enemy  had 
captured  before  we  advanced,  and  were  then  burning  in  the 
woods  behind  their  lines.  Many  a  glance  did  I  cast  back 
towards  camp,  and  after  what  seemed  to  me  a  very  long 
time — perhaps  half  an  hour  or  less  after  the  opening  of  the 
fight — I  did  see  two  regiments  in  line  of  battle,  the  First 
Wisconsin  and  the  Seventy-ninth  Pennsylvania,  both  gallant 
and  brave,  with  flags  flying  and  alignments  well  kept,  not 
double-quicking,  but  marching  to  the  front  through  the 
fields,  on  the  left  of  the  road  with  skirmishers  thrown  out. 


96  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

Before,  however,  they  reached  the  advanced  line  occupied 
by  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  the  rebels  had  disappeared 
and  the  affair  was  over.  The  three  regiments  were  then 
advanced  until  the  burning  wagons  were  found.  The 
mules,  perhaps  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  or  thirty  in 
number,  were  all  gone,  the  contents  of  the  wagons  rifled, 
and  the  invalids  captured,  taken  back  and  paroled.  Twenty 
wagons  had  been  captured,  but  the  quick  movement  of  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  without  the  presence  of  a  field 
officer,  and  without  the  order  or  knowledge  of  the  brigade 
commander,  saved  forty-four  wagons. 

These  are  the  facts  of  "  the  affair  of  Jefferson  Pike."  But 
what  do  the  official  records  say  ?  The  twentieth  volume  of 
the  "  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies"  contains  the  report  of  the  battle  of  Stone  River 
or  Mufreesboro,  including  this  affair.  There  is  no  report 
from  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  ;  and  I  will  say  that  as 
long  as  Starkweather  commanded  the  brigade,  no  regimental 
report  was  filed  at  the  War  Department.  The  reports  of  the 
other  two  brigade  commanders  of  this  division,  of  the  part 
they  took  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River  are  published  in  the 
same  volume,  and  are  both  followed  by  those  of  their  regi- 
mental commanders.  The  first  regimental  report  of  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin  which  appears  in  the  records  is  that 
of  the  Atlanta  campaign  in  1864,  and  that  appears  in 
volume  thirty-eight.  This  is  what  Starkweather  says  of  the 
affair  in  his  report  (see  page  391,  part  i,  volume  20)  : 

"  The  head  of  the  train  had  just  arrived  in  camp  and 
while  in  the  process  of  being  parked,  the  rear  of  the  same 


THE  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER          97 

was  attacked  by  a  portion  of  Wheeler's  cavalry  brigade; 
while  the  remainder  of  the  brigade,  he  being  in  command, 
as  also  a  part  of  a  brigade  under  Colonel  Allen,  advanced 
on  both  sides  of  the  highway  for  the  purpose  of  attacking 
the  brigade  force  and  destroying  the  whole  train.  The 
outposts  and  pickets,  being,  however,  on  the  alert,  met  the 
enemy  at  the  front  and  held  them  in  check  until  the  bri- 
gade was  formed  and  ready  for  battle."  (This  is  not  ac- 
cording to  my  version  given  above.)  "  I  immediately 
ordered  the  train  at  double-quick  to  be  parked;  or- 
dered the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  under  Colonel  Hobart 
to  the  front  and  rear  of  train."  (It  went  without  or- 
ders but  not  under  Hobart.)  "  Ordered  the  First 
Wisconsin  to  deploy  right  and  left  from  centre,  as  skir- 
mishers and  to  press  forward.  .  .  .  My  advance,  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  was  soon  hotly  engaged ;  being 
pressed  severely  by  the  enemy  in  front  and  on  the  left, 
they  passed  to  the  right  of  the  highway  and  occupied  a 
hill  upon  which  was  a  log  house,  giving  them  a  good 
position." 

After  further  giving  the  disposition  made  of  the  artillery, 
fifty  cavalrymen  of  the  Second  Kentucky,  the  First  Wis- 
consin and  the  Seventy-ninth  Pennsylvania,  he  further  says  : 

"  The  enemy  was,  however,  finally  repulsed  and  left  the 
field  after  severe  fighting,  the  engagement  lasting  two  hours 
and  ten  minutes,  the  brigade  following  one  and  one-half 
miles  when  deeming  my  rear  unsafe  "  (he  had  left  the 
Twenty-fourth  Illinois  there),  "I  ordered  the  command  to 
retire  and  went  into  camp  near  Jefferson." 


98 

After  giving  an  estimate  of  the  forces  and  casualties  on 
each  side,  he  further  says  : 

"The  troops  under  my  command  acted  with  great  cool- 
ness and  bravery,  no  flinching,  no  running,  but  the  utmost 
coolness  shown  by  all,  adding  another  creditable  mark  to 
the  old  twenty-eighth  brigade.  .  .  .  Staff  officers  and 
orderlies  carried  orders  fearlessly  to  different  parts  of  the 
field,"  etc.,  etc. 

Comment  is  unnecessary  on  this  report.  But  no  credit 
is  given  to  the  twenty-first  for  promptly  moving  with- 
out orders  and  thus  saving  the  forty-four  wagons.  General 
Rousseau,  who  was  not  present  in  the  fight,  in  his  report 
on  pages  378  and  379  of  same  volume,  thus  refers  to  the 
action  : 

"The  twenty-eighth  brigade,  Colonel  John  C.  Stark- 
weather commanding,  and  Stone's  battery  of  the  First  Ken- 
tucky Artillery  were  at  Jefferson  Crossing  on  Stone  River 
about  eight  miles  below."  In  another  part  of  the  report 
he  says,  "During  the  day,  the  twenty-eighth  brigade, 
Colonel  Starkweather,  was  attacked  by  Wheeler's  cavalry 
in  force  and  some  of  the  wagons  of  his  train  were  burned 
before  they  reached  him,  having  started  that  morning  (De- 
cember 3oth)  from  Stewartsboro  to  join  him.  The  enemy 
was  finally  repulsed  and  driven  off  with  loss.  Stark- 
weather's loss  was  small,  as  will  be  seen  by  his  report  of  the 
action.  In  this  affair,  the  whole  brigade  behaved  hand- 
somely. The  burden  of  the  fight  fell  upon  the  Twenty- 
first  Wisconsin,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hobart  commanding. 
This  regiment  led  by  its  efficient  commander,  behaved  like 


THE  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER          99 

veterans. ' '  He  evidently  had  received  Hobart's  verbal  re- 
port. 

General  George  H.  Thomas,  commanding  the  fourteenth 
corps,  in  his  report,  same  volume,  page 372,  says:  "  Decem- 
ber 3oth,  a  cavalry  force  of  the  enemy,  something  over  four 
hundred  strong,  with  two  pieces  of  artillery  attacked  Stark- 
weather about  9  A.  M.,  but  was  driven  off." 

The  report  of  General  Wheeler  who  commanded  the  Con- 
federate cavalry  is  given  on  page  958  of  same  volume.  He 
begins  his  report  by  saying  that  his  command  consisted  of 
the  following  cavalry  regiments  :  The  First,  Third,  and 
Fifty-first  Alabama,  the  latter  commanded  by  Colonel  John 
T.  Morgan,  after  the  war,  United  States  senator  from 
Alabama  ;  the  Eighth  Confederate,  two  Tennessee  battalions, 
and  Captain  Wiggins'  battery,  being  six  regiments  and  one 
battery.  Further  on  he  says  : 

"  By  evening  of  the  29th  (December),  we  had  reached 
the  line  of  battle  of  our  infantry"  (meaning  that  he  had 
been  driven  back  from  Stewart's  Creek  since  the  26th) 
"and  had  placed  my  brigade  on  the  extreme  right  of  the 
line.  At  midnight,  pursuant  to  orders  from  General  Bragg, 
I  proceeded  with  my  command  reinforced  by  Colonel  Car- 
ter's regiment  "  (not  Allen's)  "  to  the  enemy's  rear.  By 
daylight  on  the  3oth,  we  had  reached  Jefferson  and  soon 
after  met  a  train  with  all  the  equipage  of  one  brigade.  We 
attacked  vigorously,  drove  off  the  guards  and  destroyed  the 
train,  baggage,  equipage,  etc."  (he  should  have  said  one- 
third  of  the  train),  "also  captured  about  fifty  prisoners." 
It  can  readily  be  seen  by  this  report,  that  Wheeler's 


IOO  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

force  was  much  larger  than  General  Thomas  puts  it  in 
his  report. 

In  another  report  on  page  960,  dated  January  29,  1863, 
General  Wheeler  says,  "At  midnight  on  the  agth  ult.,  I 
proceeded  with  the  command  across  the  west  fork  of  the 
Stone  River  by  way  of  Lebanon  road,  thence  by  a  circuitous 
route  to  Jefferson,  where  about  9  A.  M.,  on  the  3oth,  we  at- 
tacked, captured  and  destroyed  an  entire  brigade  train." 

Such  is  the  official  but  false  history  of  the  engagement. 
Wheeler,  when  he  retired  from  this  attack  went  across  the 
rear  of  our  army,  capturing  what  he  could.  He  avoided 
fighting  as  much  as  possible.  The  only  thing  we  could  do 
was  to  save  as  much  of  our  train  as  possible.  That  was 
accomplished  by  the  opportune  movement  of  the  twenty- 
first.  Had  we  waited  before  moving  against  the  enemy, 
for  the  return  of  Colonel  Hobart,  or  orders  from  the  brigade 
commander,  the  whole  train  would  have  been  captured  and 
destroyed  before  we  could  have  driven  the  enemy  away.  So 
it  never  occurred  to  me  that  I  had  done  other  than  the  right 
thing  until  twenty-five  years  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
before  the  publication  of  the  official  reports  heretofore 
quoted.  At  that  time  I  was  ignorant  of  the  official  reports 
from  which  I  quote.  I  was  told  by  General  Starkweather, 
in  Washington,  D.  C.,  that  I  had  no  right  to  take  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin  down  the  pike  on  that  morning. 

Technically,  of  course,  an  adjutant  cannot  command  a 
regiment,  but  when  the  enemy  attacks  and  there  is  no  one 
to  give  a  command,  and  he  thus  in  defiance  of  army  regu- 
lations saves  perhaps,  $100,000  worth  of  property  and 


THE  BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER         IOI 

brings  upon  his  regiment  honorable  mention  by  brigade 
and  division  commanders  in  their  reports,  although  they  do 
pervert  the  facts  of  the  attack,  is  it  quite  fair  that  he  should 
be  entirely  unmentioned  in  the  matter,  and  a  false  coloring 
given  to  the  official  history  of  it  ?  The  adjutant,  however, 
was  not  entirely  without  honor  in  the  matter  in  his  own 
regiment,  for  while  on  picket  a  few  nights  after  this,  he 
overheard  a  sergeant  of  Company  B,  whose  name  I  have 
forgotten,  and  some  enlisted  men,  talking  the  matter  over, 
when  they  supposed  he  was  asleep  near  by.  The  sergeant 
was  congratulating  himself  to  the  men,  that  in  the  rapid 
advance  down  the  Jefferson  Pike  on  that  morning,  he  was 
able  to  keep  to  the  front,  by  the  side  of  the  adjutant  who 
set  the  pace.  This  conversation  was  in  the  presence  of 
Colonel  Hobart. 

The  great  credit,  however,  should  be  given  to  the  brave 
soldiers  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  who  had  been  mus- 
tered into  service  less  than  four  months  before,  who  did  not 
hesitate  to  perform  a  hazardous  service,  even  when  com- 
manded by  an  inferior  officer.  They  would  have  been 
justified  in  standing  still  and  disobeying  the  order,  much  to 
the  gratification  of  some  high  officers ;  but  in  that  case,  the 
train  would  have  been  lost,  and  Wheeler's  cavalry  could 
have  attacked  us  in  camp. 

I  heartily  wish  I  could  mention  the  names  of  the  officers 
and  men  who  were  most  conspicuously  to  the  front  in  this 
affair.  I  remember,  however,  that  all  did  bravely.  Captain 
Van  Valkenburg,  who  was  then  sergeant-major,  received  a 
spent  ball  on  his  blanket,  which  was  folded  over  his  shoulders. 


IO2  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Starkweather's  report  was  based  on  what  he  saw.  He 
did  not  see  the  twenty-first  move  out  of  camp  and  down 
the  pike.  When  he  first  took  in  the  situation,  the  head  of 
the  train  very  likely,  was  just  coming  into  camp.  But  this 
was  long  after  the  twenty-first  had  driven  off  the  rebel 
cavalrymen  from  the  train  and  formed  across  the  road.  He 
told  me  that  Hobart  had  ridden  up  to  him  in  camp  say- 
ing, "That  d d  adjutant  has  run  away  with  my  regi- 
ment." Starkweather  said  that  he  replied,  "You  would 
better  run  after  it."  However,  Hobart  never  mentioned 
the  affair  to  me,  and  Starkweather  did  not,  until  I  men- 
tioned it  to  him  in  1888,  at  Washington,  when  he  replied 
that  I  had  no  right  to  take  the  regiment  in  the  way  I  did. 

He  never  seemed  to  appreciate  that  my  taking  the  re- 
sponsibility saved  two-thirds  of  the  train.  But  as  the  reports 
gave  the  credit  to  him  and  Hobart,  I  was  not  court-mar- 
tialed. His  report  does  not  tell  the  true  beginning,  nor  the 
proper  succession  of  events.  I  could  make  no  official  report 
of  the  matter.  The  lieutenant-colonel  apparently  never 
made  any,  except  verbally  perhaps,  to  Rousseau,  who  ignor- 
ing Starkweather's  report  stated  what  Hobart  had  told  him, 
that  the  burden  of  the  fight  fell  on  the  twenty-first.  Rous- 
seau and  Hobart  were  friends.  Rousseau's  report,  while 
very  short,  more  nearly  states  the  entire  transaction  than 
Starkweather's.  He  says,  however,  that  in  the  fighting,  the 
twenty-first  was  led  by  Hobart.  Well !  it  would  have  been 
rough  on  Hobart  to  say  that  he  was  present  in  the  brigade, 
and  did  not  lead  his  regiment. 


CHAPTER  IX 
BATTLE  OF  STONE  RIVER  (Continued') 

The  brigade  all  day  of  the  3ist  of  December  going  eight  miles  towards 
the  battle — A  short  general  account  of  the  battle — A  Union  sol- 
dier mistaken  for  a  rebel  prisoner — Living  on  horse  meat  and 
parched  corn — How  two  Union  men  were  killed  by  solid  rifled 
artillery-shot — Description  of  Breckenridge's  famous  attack  and 
repulse  on  the  Union  left — Stone  River,  one  of  the  great  battles  in 
losses  on  both  sides  and  a  technical  victory  for  the  Union  army. 

THE  battle  of  Stone  River,  so  far  as  the  Twenty-first 
Wisconsin  was  concerned,  began  on  the  30th  of  December, 
1862,  with  this  affair  on  Jefferson  Pike.  While  we  were 
fighting  the  rebel  cavalry  that  morning  in  defense  of  our 
transportation,  the  rest  of  the  first  division  of  the  fourteenth 
corps,  under  command  of  General  Rousseau,  was  moving 
from  Stewartsboro  where  our  brigade  had  left  it  on  the 
evening  of  the  2gth  of  December.  It  consisted  then  of 
three  brigades,  commanded  by  Scribner,  John  Beatty,  and 
the  regular  brigade  under  Major  Oliver  L.  Sheperd.  They 
moved  along  the  main  pike,  leading  into  Murfreesboro,  and 
that  night  bivouacked  on  the  main  battle-field,  where  the  next 
day  they  fought  a  most  desperate  engagement,  while  our 
brigade  was  very  slowly  groping  its  way  in  a  zigzag  fashion 
across  the  country  to  join  them.  On  page  276  of  part  2,  vol- 
ume 20  of  the  "  Rebellion  Record  "  there  is  a  dispatch  from 
Rosecrans  to  Thomas,  dated  1 1  A.  M. ,  December  3oth,  say- 
ing, "  Firing  heard  in  the  direction  of  Jefferson."  On  the 

103 


IO4  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

next  page  is  another  dispatch  directing  Thomas  to  have 
Starkweather's  brigade  join  the  main  army  at  8  A.  M., 
December  3ist.  It  could  easily  have  done  so,  for  it  was 
only  eight  miles  away.  Starkweather  must  have  received 
that  order  during  the  night  of  the  3oth,  and  we  did  move 
out  of  camp  early  on  the  morning  on  the  3ist.  But  in  his 
very  short  report  on  page  393,  part  i,  volume  20,  Stark- 
weather says  the  brigade  arrived  on  the  battle-field  at 
5  P.  M.,  December  3131.  He  does  not  say  when  he  started 
from  Jefferson,  nor  why  it  took  all  day  to  march  eight  miles, 
while  a  desperate  battle  was  being  fought  by  our  comrades — 
of  which  fact  we  very  early  became  cognizant,  after  leaving 
our  camp  at  Jefferson.  Wounded  and  stragglers  began  to 
pass  us  early  in  the  forenoon  who  reported  the  commence- 
ment of  the  battle. 

The  historical  account  of  the  battle  of  Stone  River  is  too 
familiar  to  require  more  than  a  passing  glance.  It  can  be 
found  in  numerous  other  books.  The  union  army  com- 
manded by  General  Rosecrans  was  drawn  up  in  line,  within 
three  miles  of  Murfreesboro,  facing  the  rebel  army  under 
General  Bragg.  At  that  time  the  army  was  called  the 
fourteenth  corps,  but  was  divided  into  three  wings. 
McCook  held  the  right,  Thomas  the  centre,  and  Crittenden 
the  left.  The  latter  extended  across  Stone  River,  which 
here  ran  almost  due  north  for  a  short  distance,  after  running 
nearly  east  in  front  of  the  right  of  bur  army.  Bragg  con- 
centrated and  attacked  McCook's  right  at  daylight,  Decem- 
ber 3ist,  drove  his  divisions,  first  Johnson's  then  Davis'  and 
then  Sheridan's  back  upon  Thomas,  until  the  Union  right 


BATTLE    OF   STONE    RIVER  10$ 

was  formed  at  nearly  right  angles  with  Thomas'  centre. 
Here  Rousseau  had  formed  the  regulars  and  Beatty's  brigade 
in  the  front  line,  with  Scribner  in  reserve.  The  severest 
fighting  in  that  division  fell  to  the  regulars,  who  lost  in 
killed  and  wounded,  more  than  both  the  other  brigades;  but 
they  also  lost  heavily.  When  our  brigade  arrived,  the  bat- 
tle, so  far  as  Rousseau's  division  was  concerned,  was  over 
for  that  day.  Many  details  of  that  march  from  Jefferson 
are  not  vivid  in  my  mind ;  but  I  will  never  forget  the 
gloomy  aspect  of  the  battle-field,  and  of  the  army  lying  then 
on  its  arms  when  we  arrived  in  the  twilight  of  that  winter's 
evening,  and  went  into  bivouac  on  the  out-cropping  lime- 
stone in  the  cedar  woods,  on  the  left  of  the  Nashville  pike. 
The  armies  lay  facing  each  other,  like  two  worn-out  gladia- 
tors, tired,  muddy  and  bloody.  An  artillery  shot  was  fired 
occasionally  and  as  we  approached  the  field  from  the  rear, 
we  could  plainly  see  on  the  right,  our  cavalry  drawn  up  in 
the  open  field  and  charging  the  rebel  line,  to  prevent  its  gain- 
ing the  pike  in  our  rear.  Our  dead  and  wounded  were 
mostly  in  possession  of  the  enemy.  The  right  of  our  army 
then  lay  very  nearly  in  the  shape  of  half  a  horseshoe,  its  back 
to  the  main  pike  and  the  railroad  which  here  ran  close  to,  and 
parallel  with  the  pike.  We  marched  up  the  pike  in  rear  of 
this  wing,  to  the  most  advanced  position,  where  the  centre 
and  right  wing  joined  at  almost  a  right  angle.  The  com- 
mand of  General  Thomas,  consisting  of  Rousseau's,  Negley's 
and  a  detached  brigade  of  another  division  occupied  the  key 
to  the  field.  The  left  stretched  across  the  river  in  its 
original  position. 


IO6  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

The  first  night  we  went  on  picket  at  the  position  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  battery  of  Chicago.  It  was  raining  and 
cold.  The  ground  was  very  muddy.  Pools  of  water  stood 
in  the  hollow  places.  After  the  details  were  made  and  the 
front  pickets  posted,  Colonel  Hobart  and  I  succeeded  in 
getting  a  lot  of  cedar  boughs  to  make  a  bed  of.  At  the 
head  of  our  field  bed,  was  a  small  pine  or  cedar  bush  with  a 
fork  in  it,  just  the  right  height  for  the  head  to  rest  in  com- 
fortably. Before  we  lay  down,  some  of  the  pickets  brought 
in  a  supposed  prisoner  who  apparently  had  wandered  into 
our  lines.  Colonel  Hobart  and  Colonel  Humphrey  of  the 
Eighty-eighth  Indiana  took  charge  of  him  and  tried  to  get 
him  to  talk,  but  he  could  not  speak  a  word  of  English. 
They  went  off  with  him,  and  I  lay  down  and  went  to  sleep, 
first  putting  my  head  into  the  fork  of  that  shrub.  When  I 
awoke  in  the  morning,  Hobart  was  lying  by  my  side.  He 
insisted  that  he  had  gone  to  sleep  with  his  head  in  the  fork 
of  that  cedar  and  that  during  the  night,  I  must  by  some 
"hocus-pocus,"  have  lifted  his  head  out  and  put  mine  in. 
Said  I,  "Hobart,  what  did  you  do  with  that  prisoner,  and 
when  did  you  go  to  bed?"  He  related  the  following  ad- 
venture :  "  Colonel  Humphrey  and  I  had  a  very  amusing 
experience.  We  took  that  prisoner,  first  to  brigade  head- 
quarters, and  had  him  examined  by  General  Starkweather ; 
then  to  division  headquarters  where  Rousseau  tried  to  find 
out  from  him  where  he  came  from,  but  he  could  not ;  then 
we  went  to  General  Thomas  with  him.  The  general  looked 
him  over  and  asked  him  a  few  questions,  and  called  in  Colo- 
nel Von  Schroeder  to  talk  German  to  him.  His  German  was 


BATTLE    OF   STONE    RIVER  IO/ 

incomprehensible  to  Von  Schroeder.  Finally  General 
Thomas  with  his  usual  sagacity  said,  '  Turn  him  loose,  fol- 
low him  and  see  where  he  goes.'  We  followed  him  in  a 
devious  walk  of  more  than  an  hour  among  the  camps.  He 
finally  approached  a  camp-fire  in  the  bivouac  of  the  Eighth 
Missouri  Infantry.  There  were  several  soldiers  sitting 
around  the  fire.  Two  or  three  of  them  jumped  up  on  seeing 
the  supposed  rebel  prisoner  and  shouted,  '  Yacob,  where 

the   h 1  have   you  been  ? '     Colonel  Humphrey  and  I 

looked  in  each  other's  faces,  laughed  and  without  saying  a 
word,  turned  around  without  even  going  through  the  cere- 
mony of  bidding  the  prisoner  good-bye,  and  strode  through 
the  mud  to  our  respective  regiments,  wiser  but  sadder  and 
wetter  than  we  were  earlier  in  the  evening.  I  retired  soon 
after  midnight."  "Well,"  said  I,  "that  accounts  for  the 
hallucination  you  are  now  laboring  under  that  your  head  was 
ever  in  peaceful  slumber  in  the  fork  of  that  tree.  Any  one 
who  would  mistake  a  Union  soldier  for  a  rebel  prisoner,  and 
had  visited  three  different  headquarters  to  find  out  what 
should  have  been  apparent  at  first,  staying  an  hour  at  each 
enjoying  its  well-known  hospitality  on  a  wet  cold  night,  was 
not  likely  to  be  in  condition  to  know  whether  he  got  his  feet 
or  his  head  in  the  fork  of  a  tree." 

About  daylight,  the  regiment  was  relieved  from  the  front, 
and  moved  back  into  the  edge  of  the  woods  to  get  coffee  and 
breakfast.  Rations  were  scarce ;  but  Jasper,  my  colored 
servant,  had  a  fire  at  the  foot  of  a  large  hollow  oak-tree  and 
soon  had  a  tempting  meal  of  coffee,  meat  and  bread.  Colo- 
nel Hobart  ate  quite  heartily  of  the  meat  and  pronounced  it 


IO5  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

good  beefsteak.  Jasper  looked  at  me  and  smiled,  because 
I  knew  what  it  was.  It  was  a  piece  of  PVed  Starkweather's 
horse — a  black  one  at  that.  A  solid  shot  had  struck  it  on 
the  leg  the  day  before,  taking  the  foot  off  at  the  fetlock 
joint.  The  boys  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Illinois,  Colonel 
Mehilotzy's  German  regiment,  killed  the  horse  and  cut  him 
up  into  slices  that  looked  like  beefsteak.  The  evening  be- 
fore, Hobart  had  been  offered  some  as  horse  steak,  and 
rould  not  be  induced  to  touch  it,  but  in  the  morning,  being 
hungry,  he  was  offered  some  as  beefsteak.  He  forgot  that 
no  other  meat  was  procurable.  I  think  Chaplain  Clinton 
was  in  the  mess,  and  knew  what  the  meat  was.  However,  a 
year  or  two  later,  Hobart  got  revenge  on  the  chaplain,  who 
was  a  great  temperance  advocate  and  always  boasted  that  he 
had  never  tasted  liquor.  The  colonel  who  seemed  to  be 
annoyed  by  the  temperance  talk  of  the  chaplain,  bought  a 
can  of  concentrated  milk  punch  at  the  sutler's  and  had  Jas- 
per put  it  on  the  table,  as  concentrated  milk  for  the  coffee. 
The  chaplain  put  a  spoonful  in  his  coffee,  tasted  it,  and 
pronounced  it  sour.  "I  guess  not,"  said  Hobart,  "try 
some  more  and  see."  The  chaplain  tried  it  again,  but 
could  not  drink  it.  Hobart  then  told  the  chaplain  that  his 
boasting  that  he  had  never  tasted  liquor  was  at  an  end,  for 
he  had  just  drank  some  rum  punch. 

While  we  were  lying  thus  in  the  woods,  Rosecrans  and 
his  staff  passed  near.  At  that  moment  a  handsome  young 
man  in  the  uniform  of  a  lieutenant  of  the  staff  rode  rapidly 
up  to  the  general  and  announced  that  the  rebel  line  was 
approaching  on  the  right.  The  general  looked  at  him  a 


BATTLE    OF   STONE    RIVER 

moment,  then  said,  "  Go  over  there,  and  tell  our  men  to 
give  them  blizzard."  In  a  few  minutes  the  line  did  give 
them  "blizzard,"  and  in  all  the  attacks  made  from  that 
time  until  the  retreat  of  the  rebel  force,  no  impression  was 
made  on  the  compact,  perfect  horseshoe  formation  of  the 
Union  line.  On  January  ist,  there  was  some  fighting  of  a 
desultory  character.  Our  brigade  was  placed  in  the  toe  of 
the  horseshoe  on  the  right  of,  and  close  to  the  Nashville 
pike.  This  seemed  to  be  the  centre  and  key  of  the  position. 
The  enemy  had  a  battery  pointing  down  this  pike.  Its 
three-inch  solid  shots  would  strike  the  hard  macadamized 
surface  and  ricochet  for  a  hundred  or  more  yards.  I  saw 
two  men  struck  with  these  long-pointed  shot  after  the 
ricochet.  One  of  them  struck  a  soldier  on  his  right  arm, 
between  the  elbow  and  shoulder.  He  was  standing  with  his 
right  side  to  the  battery.  It  passed  through  both  arms  and 
his  body,  leaving  each  arm  hanging  by  two  shreds  of 
flesh. 

The  other  man  had  just  been  relieved  from  the  front  and 
was  walking  to  the  rear,  in  the  middle  of  the  pike  with  his 
full  equipments  on  him.  The  shot  first  struck  the  pike  a 
long  distance  in  his  rear,  hit  him  squarely  in  the  middle  of 
his  knapsack,  and  made  a  perfectly  round  hole  through  that 
and  his  chest.  It  lifted  him  from  the  ground,  and  he  fell 
on  his  face  more  than  twenty  feet  away.  I  ran  to  him  and 
found  that  the  concussion  of  the  shot  in  his  back,  half  way 
between  the  shoulders,  had  thrown  both  arms  out  of  their 
sockets,  at  the  shoulder,  and  they  were  hanging  by  their 
tendons.  So  instantly  were  these  men  killed,  that  they  must 


I  IO  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

have  been  unconscious  of  the  cause.     These  are  merely  two 
incidents  of  the  horrors  of  battle. 

The  next  day,  January  2,  1863,  the  famous  attack  of 
Breckinridge's  division  of  seven  thousand,  was  made  upon 
the  left  of  our  army,  across  Stone  River  to  the  left  of  our 
position.  At  four  o'clock  p.  M.,  a  double  line  of  gray 
skirmishers  could  be  seen  moving  out  of  the  woods  into  the 
open  field  in  front  of  Van  Cleve's  position,  a  division  of 
Crittenden's  wing.  These  were  soon  followed  by  two  lines 
of  battle,  with  glistening  muskets  at  right  shoulder  shift. 
They  marched  in  splendid  order  across  the  open  field  and 
were  soon  met  by  the  fire  of  Van  Cleve's  division  directly  in 
the  front.  But  Van  Cleve  had  no  artillery  on  that  side  of  the 
river.  We  had  plenty,  however,  on  our  side.  As  soon  as 
Breckinridge's  line  had  become  engaged  with  Van  Cleve's 
troops,  it  was  seen  that  their  left  flank  was  exposed  to  our 
fire.  This  gave  our  artillery  their  opportunity.  Two  or 
three  batteries  went  flying  from  our  line,  took  position  along 
the  higher  ground  of  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  poured 
shot  and  shell  into  their  exposed  left  flank.  Other  infantry 
troops  were  hurried  across  the  ford  in  support  of  Van 
Cleve.  The  firing  from  both  infantry  and  artillery  was 
terrific  for  a  short  time.  Then  the  rebel  line  gave  way  and 
melted  back  into  the  woods  whence  it  came,  leaving  two 
thousand  dead,  wounded  and  prisoners  in  our  hands. 
Breckinridge  says  in  his  report  that  he  lost  about  seventeen 
hundred.  This  ended  the  heavy  fighting.  A  heavy  rain 
fell  all  the  next  day.  The  losses  were  light  in  our  brigade, 
yet  Rousseau  says  in  his  report : 


BATTLE   OF  STONE   RIVER  III 

"  From  the  evening  of  the  313!  until  the  ensuing  Sat- 
urday night,  no  general  battle  occurred  in  front  of  my 
division,  though  firing  of  artillery  and  small  arms  was  kept 
up  during  the  day,  and  much  of  the  time  during  the  night. 
The  rain  on  the  night  of  the  3131,  which  continued  at  inter- 
vals until  the  Saturday  night  following,  rendered  the  ground 
exceedingly  sloppy  and  muddy,  and  during  much  of  the 
time,  my  men  had  neither  shelter,  food  nor  fire.  I  pro- 
cured corn,  which  they  parched  and  ate,  and  some  ate  the 
horse  steaks  cut  and  broiled  from  the  horses  upon  the  battle- 
field. Day  and  night,  in  the  cold,  wet,  and  mud,  my  men 
suffered  severely,  but  during  the  time  I  did  not  hear  a 
single  man  murmur,  but  all  were  cheerful  and  ever  ready  to 
stand  by  their  arms  and  fight.  Such  endurance  I  never  saw 
before.  In  this  severe  trial  of  their  patience  and  strength 
they  were  much  encouraged  by  the  constant  presence  and 
solicitous  anxiety  of  General  Thomas  for  their  welfare. ' ' 

Starkweather's  brigade  was  then  still  composed  of  the 
First  and  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  Seventy-ninth  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Twenty-fourth  Illinois.  Scribner's  and  Beatty's 
were  composed  of  the  following  regiments,  with  whom  we 
were  afterwards  brigaded  on  the  Atlanta  campaign  and  the 
march  to  the  sea,  the  Thirty-eighth,  Forty-second  and 
Eighty-eighth  Indiana,  Second,  Thirty-third  and  Ninety- 
fourth  Ohio,  Tenth  Wisconsin  and  Fifteenth  Kentucky. 

On  the  night  of  Saturday,  January  3,  1863,  the  rebels 
retreated  and  left  the  Union  army  in  possession  of  the  field. 
This  gave  the  technical  victory  to  the  Union  side. 

In  killed  and  wounded,  on  our  side,  it  was  the  third 


112  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

largest  battle  fought  in  the  west — Chickamauga  and  Shiloh, 
alone  being  greater  in  Union  losses.  Looking  upon  it  in  the 
light  of  later  battles,  especially  those  around  Chattanooga 
and  on  the  Atlanta  campaign,  we  can  now  see  how  crude  we 
were,  and  how  little  we  then  knew  how  to  fight  battles. 
The  twenty- first  had  been  less  than  four  months  in  the 
service.  We  were  not  skilled  nor  disciplined.  Officers  and 
soldiers,  as  a  rule,  were  brave  and  willing  enough,  but  the 
army  seemed  too  unwieldy  and  lacking  in  efficient  staff 
service.  We  were  only  thirty  miles  from  our  base  at  Nash- 
ville, and  yet  were  without  sufficient  rations,  which  to  an 
army  is  of  more  importance  than  ammunition.  We  seemed 
greatly  lacking  in  the  cavalry  arm,  in  which  the  enemy  out- 
numbered us,  two  to  one;  otherwise  our  brigade  of  infantry 
should  not  have  gone  to  Jefferson.  That  was  the  post  of 
the  cavalry.  Yet  with  all  these  drawbacks,  the  field  was 
won  against  about  an  equal  number  on  the  opposite  side, 
and  as  the  end  proves  the  means,  we  should  be  content. 

To  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  in  the  battle  of  Stone 
River,  there  was  no  such  storm  of  bullets  as  flew  round 
and  through  us  at  Perryville,  but  that  constant  bursting  of 
shells,  and  solid  shot,  and  the  whiz  of  the  sharpshooter's 
rifle  lasting  so  many  days,  were  tiresome.  We  were  without 
tents  or  baggage,  as  we  were  at  Perryville,  for  eight  or  nine 
days.  I  wore  a  poncho  and  a  butternut  rebel  blanket  for 
several  days  in  the  rain.  I  could  lie  down  anywhere  in  the 
rain  and  go  to  sleep,  under  artillery  fire. 

Later  on  in  the  service,  when  transportation  was  greatly 
reduced,  when  fine  clothes  and  dress  parades  were  largely 


BATTLE    OF   STONE    RIVER  II 3 

tabooed,  when  inefficiency,  pomposity,  idleness,  stupidity 
and  alarmists  were  replaced  by  discipline,  earnestness, 
patient  industry,  and  attention  to  those  things  only  that 
would  bring  success,  victory  perched  upon  our  banners, 
without  the  necessity  of  living  on  parched  corn  and  horse 
steak. 


CHAPTER  X 
FROM  STONE  RIVER  TO  DUG  GAP 

The  army  encamped  around  Murfreesboro — The  camp  made  beautiful 
and  the  men  comfortable — Officers'  wives  came  down  from  the 
north — Fortress  Rosecrans  built — The  mocking-bird  a  native  of 
Tennessee — Literature  in  camp — Expedition  to  McMinnville  — 
The  author  commissioned  Major  and  detached  as  Division  In- 
spector— The  army  reorganized — The  duties  of  the  Inspector's 
Department — The  personnel  of  General  Rousseau's  staff — Rebels 
hung  and  deserter  shot — The  Tullahoma  campaign  began  June 
24th — Engagement  at  Hoover's  Gap — General  Rousseau  goes 
north  and  General  Baird  assigned  to  command  the  division. 

THE  army  entered  Murfreesboro,  Tennessee,  on  January 
5,  1863.  It  was  a  beautiful  little  city  of  about  seven  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  The  country  around  it  is  very  flat,  and 
the  frequent  rains  of  January  and  February  made  the  camp 
of  the  army  very  unhealthy.  Forage  was  scarce.  Large 
foraging  parties  had  constantly  to  be  sent  out  over  terrible 
roads.  The  duties  here  of  the  rank  and  file,  at  first,  while 
winter  lasted,  were  therefore,  hard  and  tedious.  But  when 
spring  opened  and  there  was  no  movement  made  upon  the 
enemy,  the  railway  to  Louisville  having  been  put  in  good 
order,  supplies  became  plentiful.  The  life  that  before  hung 
heavily,  became  joyous  and  light.  The  different  camps 
were  beautifully  decorated.  Reviews  and  dress  parades,  with 
music  and  gold  lace  were  constant.  Ladies  frequently  visited 
the  camp.  The  army  was  largely  made  up  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 

114 


FROM    STONE    RIVER    TO    DUG    GAP  1 15 

Illinois  and  Kentucky  troops.  Many  wives  of  officers  from 
these  states  visited  their  husbands.  The  distance  from  their 
homes  was  not  great.  Fortress  Rosecrans,  a  large  earth- 
work was  thrown  up  on  both  sides  of  Stone  River  between 
the  battle-field  and  Murfreesboro.  By  means  of  this  for- 
tress, General  Rousseau  was  enabled  afterwards  in  December, 
1864,  to  hold  Murfreesboro  with  about  eight  thousand  troops 
against  the  army  of  Hood.  The  mocking-bird  is  at  home 
in  this  state.  One  day  I  sat  on  my  horse  under  the  shade 
of  a  tree  and  for  many  minutes  drank  in  the  rapturous  notes 
of  one.  When  sleeping  on  the  picket  line  we  were  awakened 
in  the  morning  amid  the  music  of  a  great  variety  of  bird 
warblers,  but  all  combined,  could  not  compare  in  sweet- 
ness, clearness,  nor  variety  of  note  to  the  mocking-bird.  It 
is  the  prima  donna  of  feathered  songsters. 

When  in  camp,  I  tented  with  the  chaplain,  Rev.  O.  P. 
Clinton.  He  was  the  best  and  most  genial  of  companions. 
In  some  way  we  had  some  books.  I  always  carried  a  few 
in  my  baggage.  I  remember  a  small  volume  of  Longfellow 
and  one  of  Whittier.  A  copy  of  Goldsmith  appeared  in 
our  tent  here.  In  the  interim  of  duties,  it  was  delightful  to 
read  the  "Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  "Deserted  Village,"  and 
"Retaliation."  The  latter  is  exquisite  in  its  wit  and  satire. 
As  his  friends,  who  perhaps  had  said  of  him,  "He  never 
wrote  a  foolish  thing,  and  never  said  a  wise  one,"  at  the 
close  of  a  dinner  lay  under  the  table,  he  wrote  each  one's 
epitaph  in  amusing  rhyme.  I  borrowed  also,  a  copy  of 
Milton's  "Paradise  Lost,"  and  Leigh  Hunt's  "Indicator." 
The  latter  is  a  miscellaneous  idle-hour  book.  It  is  named 


Il6  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

after  the  Cuculus  Indicator  of  Linnaeus.  This  bird  is  in- 
digenous to  Central  Africa.  When  a  bee  hunter  hears  its 
cry,  he  may  answer  it  in  bird  notes.  When  the  bird  finds 
it  is  recognized,  presumably  by  its  mate,  it  hovers  over  the 
tree  containing  the  honey,  thus  indicating  to  his  mate,  as 
he  supposes,  where  the  honey  can  be  found.  It  is  a 
singular  title  for  a  book  of  essays.  Our  leisure  time  thus 
passed  very  swiftly  and  pleasantly. 

Early  in  February,  1863,  I  was  taken  with  typhoid  fever, 
and  lay  in  a  house  in  Murfreesboro  for  ten  or  more  days. 
The  chaplain,  and  Dr.  S.  L.  Fuller,  one  of  our  assistant  sur- 
geons, looked  carefully  after  me.  C.  B.  Clark,  who  was 
then  an  enlisted  man  in  Company  I  was  my  attendant. 
After  the  war,  he  was  a  successful  paper  manufacturer  at 
Neenah,  Wisconsin,  and  became  wealthy  and  a  member  of 
Congress.  With  such  care,  I  soon  recovered  and  was  back 
to  duty.  But  for  some  days  I  was  very  sick. 

Some  time  in  March,  Colonel  B.  J.  Sweet  visited  the  regi- 
ment. His  right  arm  was  perfectly  stiff  at  the  elbow,  from 
his  wound.  He  had  been  assigned  to  duty  as  commandant 
of  a  fort  at  Gallatin,  Tennessee.  I  had  not  seen  him  since 
the  battle  of  Perryville.  Our  meeting  was  very  joyful.  A 
short  time  after  this  visit,  his  wound  broke  out  afresh,  and 
he  had  to  return  to  Louisville  for  treatment. 

I  notice  in  a  letter  written  home  on  April  7,  1863,  I  used 
the  following  language : 

"  I  receive  encouraging  letters  from  my  partner,  A.  H. 
Young,  at  Prescott.  I  have  nothing  to  vex  me  particularly 
except  the  continuance  of  the  rebellion.  Copperheads,  I 


FROM    STONE    RIVER    TO    DUG    GAP  1 1/ 

notice,  are  in  bad  odor  at  the  north,  but  yet,  do  you  know 
that  the  rebels  have  said  meaner  things  about  them  than  the 
people  at  the  north  ?  " 

A.  H.  Young,  after  the  war,  moved  to  Minneapolis, 
where  for  several  terms,  he  was  district  judge. 

April  2oth  our  brigade  made  part  of  an  expedition  to 
McMinnville  and  Liberty  under  General  J.  J.  Reynolds. 
The  infantry  was  in  the  nature  of  a  support  to  the  cavalry. 
My  memorandum,  made  at  Murfreesboro,  April  3oth,  says : 

"  Just  returned  from  an  expedition  of  ten  days  to  the 
front.  Went  to  McMinnville,  took  some  prisoners,  burnt  a 
large  portion  of  the  town  and  cut  the  railroad  communica- 
tion. Our  advance  cavalry  came  very  suddenly  upon  John 
H.  Morgan.  He  and  a  leader,  named  'Dick  Martin,'  tried 
to  escape  together.  Morgan  escaped,  but  General  Reynolds, 
in  his  official  report  says  that  Lieutenant-Colonel  R.  M. 
Martin  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  sabre  in  the  hand  of  a 
member  of  the  Seventh  Pennsylvania  Cavalry.  I  enjoyed 
the  outing  very  much.  We  came  near  the  slope  of  the  Cum- 
berland Mountains.  The  scenery  was  very  grand.  From 
the  summit  of  Snow  Hill,  it  is. two  and  one-half  miles  by  the 
road,  to  the  valley  below.  We  came  in  rear  of  this  hill  and 
drove  the  enemy  before  us.  So  sudden  was  our  appearance 
that  they  destroyed  their  equipage  and  fled,  every  man  for 
himself.  About  two  hundred  prisoners  were  captured." 

General  Reynolds  in  his  official  report  of  this  says,  "  The 
inhabitants  may  be  divided  into  three  classes.  First,  the 
wealthy  ;  second,  those  of  moderate  means,  or  well-to-do ; 
third,  the  poor,"  etc.,  etc.  See  page  269,  part  i,  volume 
23,  "Rebellion  Reports"  for  this  very  interesting  analysis 
of  the  classes. 

As  my  mind  recalls  the  experiences  of  the  winter  of 


Il8  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

1862-3,  beginning  at  Mitchellville,  Tennessee,  where  we  lay 
so  long  in  wet,  muddy  and  swampy  camps,  and  where  we 
lost  so  many  men  by  that  deadly  disease,  pneumonia ;  our 
life  at  Camp  Johnson  near  Nashville  where  Merry  Christ- 
mas was  spent,  and  followed  so  closely  the  day  after  by  a 
miserable  march  in  rain  and  mud  via  Nolensville  to  Stew- 
artsboro ;  the  sunshiny  camp  at  Jefferson,  and  the  attack  of 
Wheeler's  cavalry  on  our  trains,  and  his  glorious  repulse  on 
December  301)1 ;  the  horrible  scenes  of  the  battle  of  Stone 
River,  followed  by  the  long  and  restful  camp  at  Murfrees- 
boro,  I  recall  also  the  sturdy,  healthful  faces  and  forms  the 
men  put  on  when  the  trees  began  to  bloom  and  the  mock- 
ing-birds commenced  their  inimitable  songs  in  those  beauti- 
ful groves  about  that  little  Tennessee  city. 

We  lay  in  this  camp  nearly  six  months,  drilling,  recruit- 
ing, going  on  an  occasional  march  to  capture  some  rebel 
force,  that  was  not  captured,  and  gladly  marching  back 
again  to  the  peaceful  quarters,  so  cozy  and  bright  with  new 
tents  and  well  policed  streets. 

It  was  in  this  camp  I  was  commissioned  major  to  succeed 
the  lamented  Schumacher,  who  was  killed  in  the  battle  of 
Perryville.  My  rank  as  major  began,  according  to  the 
wording  of  the  commission,  December  19,  1862.  I  cannot 
imagine  why  that  particular  date  was  selected.  If  the 
commission  was  to  date  back  at  all,  why  not  to  the  date 
of  Schumacher's  death,  October  8,  1862.  The  reception 
of  this  commission  rather  surprised  me,  for  I  had  lost  hope 
of  getting  it.  There  were  seven  line  officers  in  the  regiment 
who  ranked  me.  They  had  been  doing  all  they  could  to 


FROM    STONE    RIVER    TO    DUG    GAP  119 

defeat  my  prospects,  aided  by  some  officers  of  still  higher 
rank.  Colonel  Sweet  triumphed  over  all  of  them.  He 
placed  on  file  in  the  executive  office  at  Madison,  Wisconsin, 
testimonials  of  my  character  and  fitness,  that  I  am  afraid 
were  beyond  the  strict  construction  of  my  constitution.  He 
did  that  when  he  was  unable  to  write,  but  dictated  to  an 
amanuensis.  Without  his  friendship  and  disinterested  zeal, 
I  am  free  to  say,  that  it  is  very  probable  my  rank  in  the 
service  would  not  have  risen  above  that  of  first  lieutenant. 

The  army  was  practically  reorganized  here  at  Murfrees- 
boro.  Before  that  time,  brigades  had  been  numbered  suc- 
cessively. Ours  was  the  twenty-eighth  and  belonged  to 
Rousseau's  division.  But  here  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
was  divided  into  three  corps,  the  fourteenth,  twentieth  and 
twenty-first.  Each  division  was  numbered  within  the  corps 
and  each  brigade  within  its  division.  Certain  staff  corps 
were  reorganized  and  enlarged,  notably  the  Inspector's  de- 
partment. 

I  happened  to  have  two  or  three  friends  on  Rousseau's 
staff,  one  of  whom  was  first  lieutenant,  William  R.  Lowe, 
ordnance  officer,  who  was  taken  from  the  line  of  the  Nine- 
teenth United  States  Infantry.  He  came  from  the  county  in 
which  my  family  lived,  in  Ohio.  His  father  before  him  was 
a  soldier  in  both  the  Mexican  and  Civil  Wars,  and  was 
killed  in  1861  in  the  battle  of  Carnifex  Ferry,  in  Virginia, 
as  colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Ohio.  So  it  happened  that  when 
General  Rosecrans  sent  down  to  General  Rousseau's  head- 
quarters at  Murfreesboro,  an  order  for  some  officer  with  the 
rank  of  major  to  be  recommended  for  the  position  of  in- 


120  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

spector  of  the  first  division,  Lieutenant  Lowe  mentioned  my 
name  to  General  Rousseau,  and  without  my  having  known 
anything  about  it,  I  one  day  received  the  following  order, 
which  took  me  upon  detached  duty : 

"  Headquarters,  I4th  Army  Corps, 

"  May  jo,  1863. 
"  GENERAL  ORDER 
"No  17. 

"  EXTRACT. 

"In  pursuance  of  General  Order  No.  99,  May  3,  1863, 
from  Department  Headquarters,  the  following  named  offi- 
cers having  been  approved  by  the  Department  Commander, 
are  hereby  appointed  Division  and  Brigade  Inspectors  for 
first,  second,  third  and  fifth  divisions. 

"First  Division,  Major  M.  H.  Fitch,  2ist  Wis.  Vols. 
Division  Inspector. 

"By  command  of 

"  MAJOR  GENERAL  THOMAS. 
"(Signed)  GEORGE  E.  FLYNT, 

"A.  A.  G.  and  Chief  of  Staff." 

The  corps  of  inspectors  consisted  of  a  chief  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  army,  an  assistant  inspector  general  of  each 
corps,  and  an  inspector  of  each  division  and  brigade. 
Daily  reports  were  made  by  the  brigade  inspector  through 
the  division  inspector  of  the  condition  of  the  camps  and 
men  ;  condemnation  of  worn-out  and  useless  ordnance  and 
property  of  all  kinds  was  a  function  of  this  office.  A 
very  important  duty  was  to  see  that  the  pickets  were  prop- 
erly placed,  and  a  competent  line  maintained  around  the 
army.  This  brought  me  every  day  on  the  picket  line  of  the 
division.  An  inspector  was  not  on  the  personal  staff  of  the 
general,  I  usually  did  whatever  was  customary  in  carrying 


FROM    STONE    RIVER    TO    DUG    GAP  121 

orders,  but  not  until  the  aides  had  been  first  called,  and 
as  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  when  all  the  aides  and 
other  members  of  the  staff  had  been  sent  with  orders  to 
other  parts  of  the  field,  I  was  frequently  alone  with  the 
general. 

General  Rousseau  had  his  headquarters  at  Murfreesboro, 
in  a  brick  house  near  the  lines  of  the  Twenty-first  Wiscon- 
sin, though  the  quarters  of  most  of  his  staff  were  outside  in 
tents. 

The  division  was  composed  of  three  brigades,  two  of 
them  volunteer  and  one  regular.  The  regular  brigade  was 
commanded  by  General  John  H.  King,  and  his  adjutant 
general  was  Captain  James  W.  Forsythe  who  was  retired 
not  long  ago,  as  major-general  of  the  regular  army.  This 
brigade  was  especially  interesting  because  it  was  regular, 
and  most  of  its  officers  were  graduates  of  West  Point. 
The  band  of  the  Fifteenth  United  States  Infantry  played  at 
division  headquarters  almost  every  evening  and  its  music 
was  charming.  Almost  every  week,  the  division  drilled. 
Companies  and  regiments  were  drilled  every  day.  All  the 
officers  and  men  kept  well  dressed,  and  were  inspected 
every  Sunday  morning.  The  camps  were  regularly  laid  out 
and  kept  scrupulously  clean.  The  sanitary  conditions  were 
closely  looked  after.  Fine  hospitals  were  established. 

Of  General  Rousseau's  staff,  I  readily  recall  Major  Will- 
iam P.  McDowell,  assistant  adjutant- general.  He,  like 
Rousseau,  was  a  Kentuckian.  Dr.  Solon  Marks  was  med- 
ical director  of  the  division.  He  was  No.  i  in  his  depart- 
rnent,  and  has  been  since  the  war,  a  leading  surgeon  and. 


122  ECHOES    OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

physician  in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  Genial  Captain 
Thomas  C.  Williams  was  later  one  of  the  aides.  He  be- 
longed to  the  Nineteenth  United  States  Infantry,  was  tall, 
graceful  and  a  very  fine  officer.  Lieutenant  John  L. 
Mitchell  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Wisconsin  Infantry,  was  an 
aide  and  a  very  efficient  and  brave  officer.  He  was  after 
the  war  a  United  States  senator  from  Wisconsin,  and  was  a 
very  wealthy,  leading  citizen.  I  have  spoken  above  of 
Major  William  R.  Lowe.  Harrison  Millard,  the  musical 
composer  was  the  mustering  officer.  Later  on,  the  cele- 
brated tragedian,  James  E.  Murdock,  was  volunteer  aide  in 
citizen's  dress.  He  was  a  fine  wit  and  conversationalist. 
He  gave  us  readings  and  recitations  frequently.  Captain 
R.  E.  A.  Crofton,  late  colonel  of  the  Fifteenth  United 
States  Infantry,  and  commander  at  Fort  Sheridan,  was  then 
a  captain  in  the  Sixteenth  United  States  Infantry  in  King's 
brigade.  He  was  an  exceedingly  agreeable  gentleman. 
These  officers  made  up  a  society  at  headquarters  that  was 
very  attractive. 

One  night  in  June,  1863,  General  Rousseau  gave  an  en- 
tertainment at  his  headquarters  to  the  officers.  The  gen- 
erals of  the  whole  army,  and  nearly  all  the  field  officers 
attended.  I  remember  seeing  George  D.  Prentice  of  the 
Louisville  Journal  there.  A  few  nights  afterwards,  General 
James  S.  Negley,  whose  division  was  encamped  to  our  right 
gave  a  similar  entertainment.  Thus  the  time  passed  very 
pleasantly  until  the  24th  of  June  when  the  army  broke 
camp  and  moved  forward  on  what  is  dignified  by  the  name 
of  the  Tullahoma  campaign. 


FROM    STONE    RIVER    TO    DUG    GAP 

While  we  lay  in  this  camp  at  Murfreesboro,  I  remember 
three  men  were  hung  near  our  camp.  They  were  citizens 
who  were  murderers,  and  had  been  condemned  by  military 
court.  On  June  5th,  a  rebel  who  had  tortured  and  slowly 
murdered  a  Union  man,  being  convicted  by  a  court  martial, 
was  hung  in  the  presence  of  the  army.  The  daughter  of 
the  murdered  man  was  present.  As  the  drop  fell  and  his 
body  went  down  like  a  flash,  she  clapped  her  hands.  A 
recaptured  deserter  was  shot  by  our  division.  The  division 
was  formed  on  three  sides  of  him,  as  he  sat  on  his  coffin. 
The  detail  shot  him,  firing  towards  the  fourth,  and  open 
side  of  the  square.  General  Rousseau  and  his  staff  sat  on 
their  horses  some  distance  behind  the  detail,  and  I  remem- 
ber we  saw  him  fall  dead  quite  a  little  while  before  we 
heard  the  sound  of  the  firing.  Light  travels  so  much  faster 
than  sound. 


On  June  i5th,  I  wrote,  "  How  busy  I  am  every  hour,  and 
have  been  since  coming  on  staff  duty.  It  is  now  nine  at 
night,  and  oh  !  how  tired  I  am !  Been  out  in  the  hot  sun 
all  the  afternoon  on  division  drill,  after  writing  and  inspect- 
ing all  the  forenoon.  I  inspect  a  picket  line  a  mile  long 
every  morning  before  breakfast,  but  that  is  only  a  nice  ride. 
The  position  of  inspector  is  very  independent,  and  a  very 
pleasant  one ;  laborious  indeed,  but  furnishing  sufficient 
variety  to  make  up  for  want  of  leisure.  General  Rousseau 
is  a  fine  gallant  officer,  and  now  sports  his  two  stars.  The 
staff  officers  are  agreeable  and  interesting.  Just  in  front  of 
our  headquarters,  a  stand  has  been  erected  and  every  morn- 
ing and  evening,  the  sweetest  music  fills  the  air  from  some 
one  of  the  many  bands  in  the  division." 

There  was  a  very  long  delay  in  moving  upon  the  enemy. 


124  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Secretary  Stanton  had  some  racy  correspondence  with  Rose- 
crans  about  this  inactivity.  General  Garfield,  chief  of  staff 
to  Rosecrans  was  anxious  to  move.  He  took  pains  to 
ascertain  the  views  of  the  general  officers  of  the  army  with 
reference  to  this  delay.  Rosecrans  was  supported  by  most 
of  the  other  generals,  including  General  Thomas.  The  let- 
ters and  reports,  pro  and  con,  are  very  interesting,  and  can 
be  found  in  part  2,  volume  23,  "Rebellion  Record." 

General  Rousseau's  official  report  of  the  Tullahoma 
campaign  will  sufficiently  indicate  the  march  from  Mur- 
freesboro  and  the  kind  of  campaign  then  made.  The  only 
engagements  with  the  enemy  of  any  importance  were  those 
of  Hoover's  and  Liberty  Gaps. 

Rousseau  said  July  6th,  near  Dechard : 


"  In  Hoover's  Gap,  the  enemy  had  two  brigades  and  a 
detached  regiment  or  so.  ...  Colonel  Hambright" 
(that  was  the  commander  of  the  brigade  to  which  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin  was  attached)  "being  ordered  to 
move  forward  and  attack  the  enemy  in  his  front  on  the  main 
road,  which  he  did  with  alacrity  driving  the  enemy  before 
him." 

Farther  on,  General  Rousseau  says,  "  Seeing  the  left 
turned,  the  enemy  fled  with  precipitation,  taking  advantage 
of  the  high  ground  in  his  retreat  to  fire  a  few  shots  of  artil- 
lery as  he  left. 

"The  loss  in  my  division  was,  first  brigade,  one  killed, 
ten  wounded ;  second  brigade,  twelve  wounded ;  third 
brigade,  three  killed,  twenty  wounded.  .  .  . 

"  Altogether  this  was  the  most  remarkable  march  I  have 
ever  known.  It  began  to  rain  just  as  my  division  was  being 
formed  to  march  out  of  Murfreesboro  on  the  24th  ultimo, 
q.nd  it  has  rained  steadily  every  day  since,  but  one.  .  .  . 

f'It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  say  that  my  command 


FROM    STONE    RIVER    TO    DUG    GAP  12$ 

during  all  these  trials  discharged  their  duty,  not  only  cheer- 
fully and  like  soldiers,  but  wiih  the  greatest  alacrity.  Their 
behavior,  in  my  judgment  could  not  have  been  better." 

In  the  engagement  at  Hoover's  Gap  at  one  time,  the  rebel 
artillery  had  a  very  good  range  of  our  staff.  The  shells 
burst  so  close  that  General  Rousseau  said,  "  Gentlemen,  you 
must  scatter."  We  rode  off  in  different  directions  but  none 
went  to  the  rear.  The  right  wing,  being  the  twentieth 
corps,  was  successful  at  Liberty  Gap,  and  broke  through 
the  enemy's  lines. 

On  July  4th,  we  were  encamped  at  a  beautiful  spot  called 
Gum  Springs.  We  had  just  heard  of  the  success  of  the 
Union  army  at  Gettysburg.  In  honor  of  that  and  the  anni- 
versary of  American  independence,  General  Rousseau  ob- 
tained the  consent  of  General  Rosecrans  to  fire  a  salute. 
Colonel  Loomis  was  our  chief  of  artillery.  He  brought  his 
own  fine  battery,  the  First  Michigan  in  front  of  head- 
quarters. The  salute  was  not  fired  just  as  the  general 
thought  it  should  be,  so  he  reprimanded  poor  Loomis  before 
the  whole  staff  in  vigorous  terms.  Loomis  simply  said  that 
he  had  misunderstood  the  general's  orders. 

Not  every  officer  who  had  the  power  was  considerate  in 
its  use.  I  remember  a  captain  of  a  battery  swearing  at  a 
negro  teamster  for  driving  his  six  mule  team  in  between  two 
pieces  of  the  battery  as  it  crossed  a  difficult  ford.  The 
wagon  train  as  well  as  the  battery  was  waiting  at  the  ford  to 
cross.  One  piece  of  artillery  had  crossed,  but  the  next  one 
was  delayed.  The  negro  seeing  an  opening  drove  the  team 
in  and  crossed.  The  captain  was  sitting  on  his  horse  on 


126  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

the  opposite  side  of  the  stream  and  as  the  teamster  drove 
out,  he  sailed  into  him  with  his  tongue,  but  added,  "  I  don't 
do  this  because  you  are  black,  but  no  one,  white  or  black, 
can  drive  a  team  in  the  midst  of  my  battery."  I  thought 
that  apology  was  quite  chivalrous.  No  worthy  officer  took 
advantage  of  his  position  merely  to  show  his  power. 

"July  l8th. 

"  I  write  this  under  the  shadow  of  a  great  oak  grove,  near 
the  Alabama  line,  just  under  the  brow  of  the  Cumberland 
Mountains.  The  army  here  is  quiet  now.  I  have  a  very 
pleasant  tent  companion.  He  is  a  native  of  Milwaukee. 
He  was  educated  in  Europe,  went  to  school  at  Lake  Geneva. 
He  entertains  me  by  relating  his  experiences  in  the  '  old 
country.'  "  (That  was  Hon.  John  L.  Mitchell,  late  United 
States  senator  from  Wisconsin.)  "  Have  just  heard  that 
poor  Colonel  Sweet  has  again  gone  home  from  Gallatin,  sick. 
1  would  like  to  go  to  him  if  I  could." 

"July  24th,  near  Cowan,  Tenn. 

"  I  feel  really  fine  to-day.  The  air,  the  sky,  and  the 
mountains  are  so  solemn  and  still.  I  feel  the  correspond- 
ence between  man  and  nature.  We  are  only  one  of  the 
phenomena  around  us.  I  forget  war's  alarms  and  feel  how- 
puny  in  the  sight  of  nature,  must  be  even  such  a  war  as 
this,  which  seems  so  mighty  to  us.  Nature  is  always  the 
same.  She  heeds  none  of  the  efforts  of  man.  Even  if  man- 
kind should  be  annihilated  to-morrow,  the  sun  would  not  be 
darkened  nor  the  trees  cease  to  grow.  The  grand  phenom- 
ena of  the  universe  would  continue,  though  no  human  eye 
could  look  upon  them.  Knowing  Nature  makes  no  mistakes, 
that  whatever  happens  in  her  realm  is  not  only  for  the  best 
generally,  but  also  for  mankind,  I  feel  calm  and  happy, 
when  forgetting  all  else,  I  become  absorbed  in  contemplating 
her  beauties." 

"  Camp  Daw  son,  Alabama,  Atigusf  24,  1863. 
"  Oh  !   how  piping  hot !     We  don't  do  much  else  than 
melt  away  each  day,  and  congeal  again  in  the  evening  by 


FROM    STONE    RIVER    TO    DUG    GAP  I2/ 

jumping  into  Crow  Creek.  You  should  have  seen  what 
juicy  specimens  we  were  coming  over  the  mountains,  drop- 
ping in  the  road  and  by  fence  corners,  completely  overcome 
by  the  heat.  Mountain  scenery  lost  all  its  grandeur,  seen 
through  great  drops  of  perspiration.  Still  we  are  across  now 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee,  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  wait- 
ing for  something  to  turn  up.  I  think  something  is  impend- 
ing. Big  preparations  are  constantly  going  on,  and  all  the 
troops  are  concentrated  at  Bridgeport.  Won't  there  be  a 
hot  time  of  it  ?  I  think  Bragg  has  not  much  force  at  Chat- 
tanooga, but  undoubtedly  can  receive  reinforcements  soon. 
When  we  cross  the  river,  it  is  likely  we  may  strike  for  a  point 
south  of  Chattanooga  and  thus  flank  the  position.  I  think 
there  is  no  doubt  about  our  having  a  big  fight ;  for  if  they 
don't  stand  at  Chattanooga,  I  don't  know  where  they  will 
go.  .  .  .  General  Rousseau  went  to  Washington  some 
time  ago.  I  presume  he  will  return  soon  and  the  papers  say 
that  he  has  authority  to  mount  this  division.  Then  we  will 
scour  this  whole  country.  We  will  go  a  la  John  Morgan." 

When  Rousseau  went  away,  General  Absalom  Baird  was 
assigned  to  the  command  of  his  division.  The  battle  was 
fought  while  Rousseau  was  away. 

"  September  12,  1863. 

"  I  don't  know  where  to  superscribe  this,  for  we  are 
among  the  mountains  of  Walker  County,  Georgia,  south  of 
Chattanooga."  (It  was  at  the  foot  of  Steven's  Gap  of  Look- 
out Mountain  in  McLemore's  Cove.)  "I  write  this  during 
a  temporary  halt,  occasioned  by  the  presence  of  the  enemy 
in  some  force."  (The  action  at  Dug  Gap  had  occurred  the 
day  before.)  "  Did  you  ever  march  with  a  large  army,  with 
innumerable  wagons  over  mountains,  forty-five  degrees  more 
than  perpendicular?  Then  you  can  form  some  small  idea 
of  the  tedium,  anxiety,  dust,  heat,  and  weariness  that  our 
division  has  just  encountered.  For  two  weeks  we  have  been 
coming  across  the  Tennessee  River  and  over  rocky  moun- 
tains. But  we  are  nearly  over  and  I  hope  will  soon  be  in 
the  level  country  about  Atlanta."  (We  did  not  get  there 
until  just  a  year  later.)  "  The  enemy  are  just  in  advance  of 


128  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

us,  and  may  give  fight  about  fifteen  miles  from  here.  We 
start  on  a  forced  march  to-morrow  morning."  (The  enemy 
then  had  turned  back  towards  Chattanooga  from  Lafayette, 
and  were  trying  to  get  between  us  and  that  city.)  "An  in- 
spector of  one  of  our  brigades  was  killed  day  before  yester- 
day in  a  skirmish.  He  was  a  brave,  fine  young  lieutenant 
named  Nichols.  Rosecrans  has  his  headquarters  in  Chat- 
tanooga. It  was  pure  brain  work  that  captured  that  place, 
without  firing  a  gun,  except  a  few  shells  sent  in  by  a  colonel 
to  find  out  whether  any  force  was  there.  Bragg  was  out- 
witted both  here  and  at  Tullahoma. "  (But  Rosecrans  car- 
ried his  strategy  too  far.  By  scattering  his  corps,  he  came 
near  losing  the  campaign.  He  should  have  concentrated  at 
Chattanooga,  and  fortified.)  "  General  Baird  is  in  com- 
mand of  this  division,  Rousseau  being  still  absent  on  some 
wild  goose  chase  after  mounted  infantry,  or  something  else, 
nobody  knows  what." 

The  affair  at  Dug  Gap  was  no  battle.  Negley  had  ad- 
vanced with  his  division  to  Dug  Gap,  close  to  Lafayette, 
and  was  in  line  when  Baird's  division  joined  him.  The 
enemy  being  in  force  near  by  and  threatening  an  attack, 
Negley  and  Baird  drew  back  to  the  foot  of  Steven's  Gap 
where  Thomas'  whole  corps  concentrated  a  little  later ;  and 
where  it  halted  until  the  iyth,  waiting  for  McCook's  corps 
to  join  it  from  a  wild  goose  chase  after  the  enemy  below 
Lafayette.  On  the  xyth,  our  division  marched  to  Bird's 
Mill  on  the  Chickamauga,  and  camped  for  the  night  between 
there  and  Gower's  Ford. 


CHAPTER  XI 
JUST  BEFORE  CHICKAMAUGA— A  NIGHT  MARCH 

Great  vigilance  necessary  from  September  lyth  to  morning  of  iQth — 
Night  march  through  the  woods  by  obscure  roads — General 
Thomas  rode  with  General  Baird — McCook's  corps  followed 
Thomas'  corps  closely — Some  midnight  reflections  on  the  coming 
battle  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  field — The  opening  of  the  battle. 

"  BAIRD'S  division  with  its  right  resting  at  Gower's  Ford 
and  extending  along  Chickamauga  Creek  to  Bird's  Mill." 
This  is  the  language  of  General  George  H.  Thomas'  re- 
port of  the  Chickamauga  campaign  in  giving  the  positions 
of  the  different  divisions  of  his  corps  (the  fourteenth)  on 
September  17,  1863.  Before  this  date  Rosecrans  had  dis- 
covered that  Bragg,  who  some  days  before  had  evacuated 
Chattanooga  was  trying  to  get  back  into  the  city,  and  was 
then  marching  with  his  whole  army  to  obtain  possession  of 
the  Chattanooga  and  Lafayette  road  near  Rossville,  between 
us  and  Chattanooga.  Could  Bragg  arrive  at  this  point  be- 
fore Rosecrans,  he  would  have  the  latter  cut  off  from  his 
objective.  A  calamity  like  that  had  to  be  prevented  at  any 
cost.  Crittenden's  corps  was  already  in  position  at  Craw- 
fish Springs,  on  our  left,  having  marched  there  after  occupy- 
ing Chattanooga,  leaving  Wagner's  brigade  to  occupy  the 
city,  and  McCook's  corps  was  just  closing  upon  our  right  at 
Pond  Springs.  Crittenden's  corps,  when  placed  in  line, 
could  not  cover  this  Lafayette  road,  and  at  the  same  time 

129 


I3O  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

other  crossings  of  the  Chickamauga,  and  Bragg  was  rapidly 
marching  north,  parallel  with  our  line  of  march,  on  that 
road.  The  problem  was  for  General  Thomas  to  march  in 
rear  of  Crittenden's  corps  and  gain  this  road  ahead  of 
Bragg,  on  Crittenden's  left.  The  movement  did  not  begin 
until  4  p.  M.,  of  September  i8th,  for  the  reason  that 
McCook's  corps  could  not  connect  with  Thomas'  right  with 
all  his  divisions  until  that  date,  and  in  such  close  prox- 
imity to  the  enemy,  the  lines  must  be  kept  compact,  or  at 
least  within  supporting  distance  of  each  other.  The  first 
division  commanded  by  General  Absalom  Baird  took  the 
lead,  after  Negley's  division,  which  at  first  was  leading, 
dropped  into  line  on  the  right  of  Crittenden.  As  General 
Thomas  and  his  staff  rode  with  us,  and  it  was  one  of  the 
most  important  movements  made  by  us  during  the  war,  the 
main  facts  are  quite  vividly  impressed  on  my  mind.  It 
proved  to  be  an  all  night  march.  But  the  men  were  veter- 
ans at  that  time.  They  had  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  at 
Bridgeport  on  the  3d  or  4th  of  September,  marched  over 
two  mountain  chains,  and  were  thoroughly  seasoned  to  such 
service. 

The  enemy  was  not  far  away,  and  the  utmost  secrecy  had 
to  be  exercised.  McCook's  corps  followed  us  closely,  so 
as  to  leave  no  gap  in  case  of  attack.  Had  the  enemy  dis- 
covered that  we  were  hurrying  by  our  left  flank  to  get  be- 
tween him  and  Chattanooga,  he  would  have  done  one  of 
two  things — either  attacked  us  in  the  midst  of  the  move- 
ment, or  increased  his  own  speed  to  gain  the  coveted  point 
before  us.  Therefore,  to  deceive  him,  when  darkness  came 


JUST    BEFORE    CHICKAMAUGA  13! 

on,  the  evening  of  the  i8th,  the  troops  left  fires  burning  in 
their  former  camps,  and  along  the  line  they  had  just  occu- 
pied. In  fact  the  night  proved  to  be  cold.  Whenever  a 
halt  occurred,  fires  were  built  of  fence  rails,  on  the  road- 
side, by  the  troops  to  keep  themselves  warm,  and  when  we 
reached  Crawfish  Springs  at  midnight,  there  was  a  streak  of 
fire  on  each  side  of  the  road  as  far  back  as  the  eye  could 
reach.  The  weird  forms  of  the  blue  coated  soldiers,  with 
arms  at  right-shoulder  shift  in  the  fitful  light  of  the  blazing 
fires  at  some  points,  and  again  at  others,  in  the  shadows 
only  of  the  smoldering  ashes,  reminded  the  beholder  as  he 
glanced  back  over  his  shoulder  at  the  long  line,  of  the 
ghostly  march  of  the  killed  in  battle  of  "The  Soldier's 
Dream." 

How  many  of  them  took  up  that  march  of  the  dead  the 
next  day,  and  the  next,  the  return  of  casualties  of  that  aw- 
ful battle  alone  discloses  !  These  victims  of  the  coming 
battle  marched  with  as  eager  tread  and  as  careless  swing 
as  those  who  survived.  They  were  as  merry,  they  made  as 
light  of  the  coming  conflict  as  their  more  fortunate  com- 
rades who  do  not  lie  in  the  National  Military  Cemetery  at 
Chattanooga.  What  a  wonderful  preventive  of  misery  this 
is  !  This  human  inability  to  penetrate  the  future,  even  for 
the  infinitesimal  period  of  one  day.  Think  of  the  despair, 
the  dread  that  would  have  seized  every  soldier  in  that  long 
line  had  it  been  apparent  to  him  just  who  would  be  killed 
or  wounded  on  the  morrow,  just  who  was  then  marching 
straight  to  death  !  Despair  would  have  weakened  those  who 
were  the  doomed,  and  utter  unhappiness  through  sympathy, 


132  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

those  who  survived.  Silence  was  the  rule,  although  when 
the  line  would  halt,  there  was  a  murmur  of  conversation. 
We  halted  two  hours  at  midnight  at  Crawfish  Springs.  The 
men  made  coffee  and  ate  something.  Then  they  lay  down 
and  some  fell  asleep.  I  remember  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
profound  stillness  of  that  midnight  hour,  when  every  one 
supposed  that  silence  was  almost  essential  to  the  salvation  of 
the  army,  that  Colonel  A.  Von  Schroeder,  the  assistant  in- 
pector  general  of  the  corps,  came  with  an  order  from  General 
Thomas.  Instead  of  riding  close  to  General  Baird  and  de- 
livering it  in  a  low  tone,  he  startled  the  echoes  from  the 
adjoining  woods,  but  I  think  not  the  rebels  who  were  farther 
away  than  the  echoes,  by  hallooing  in  a  high  and  excited 
voice  from  across  the  road.  Poor  Colonel  Von  Schroeder  ! 
he  was  near-sighted,  and  should  not  have  been  abroad  in  the 
night-time.  Neither  should  he  have  been  abroad  in  day- 
light, for  the  next  day,  he  rode  by  mistake  into  the  lines  of 
the  enemy  and  was  captured. 

Soon  after  leaving  Crawfish  Springs,  we  deflected  to  the 
right  on  a  cross  road  which  led  into  the  Lafayette  road 
which  we  were  trying  to  reach.  It  was  a  simple  unoffend- 
ing cross  country  road,  but  along  its  obscure  windings, 
some  of  the  hardest  fighting  of  the  coming  battle  was 
done.  Near  Crawfish  Springs  on  the  right,  we  passed  the 
field  where  Wilder's  mounted  brigade  did  some  of  the 
heaviest  fighting  of  the  war,  in  the  coming  two  days. 
Farther  on  to  the  left,  General  William  H.  Lytle  was  killed 
on  the  second  day  of  the  battle.  Still  farther,  we  passed 
the  place  where  the  fatal  blunder  of  the  battle  on  the  Union 


JUST    BEFORE    CHICKAMAUGA  133 

side  was  made,  where  General  T.  J.  Woods  withdrew  his  di- 
vision from  the  front  line  on  the  second  day  and  let  in  the 
rebel  forces  of  Longstreet.  The  peaceful  woods  lying  in 
profound  darkness  said  not  a  word  to  the  passing  regiments 
of  these  awful  future  events.  As  if  in  pity  for  those  over 
whom  the  Angel  of  Death  was  then  hovering,  the  spirit  of 
the  forest  breathed  the  same  monotonous  murmur  it  always 
had.  We  marched  along  in  blissful  ignorance  of  what  the 
next  two  days  would  bring  forth. 

"  'Twas  the  witching  hour  of  night,  when  graveyards 
yawn  and  hell  itself,  breathes  out  contagion  to  the  world," 
but  there  was  not  a  hint  of  it  on  this  road  that  night.  The 
road,  for  the  most  part,  ran  through  thick  hard-timber 
woods,  but  about  half-way  between  Crawfish  Springs  and 
Kelly's  Farm  which  was  our  objective  point,  there  was  a 
little  clearing  and  a  little  dwelling  known  as  "Widow 
Glenn's,"  where  Rosecrans,  the  next  day,  lifted  the  name 
of  the  widow  from  the  depths  of  utter  obscurity  to  the  dizzy 
heights  of  national  fame,  by  making  it  his  headquarters.  In 
fact,  this  whole  region  which  now  has  been  made  into  a 
national  park  was  densely  wooded  and  the  small  farms  scat- 
tered through  it  were  marked  only  by  log  houses  occupied 
by  the  obscurest  of  backwoods  farmers,  whose  names  would 
never  have  been  remembered  as  far  away  from  home  as 
Chattanooga,  only  nine  miles  off,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
accident  of  the  greatest  battle  in  the  west  having  been  fought 
just  there  instead  of  at  Chattanooga,  where  perhaps  it  should 
have  been  fought.  But  "  man  proposes,  and  God  disposes," 
and  the  Widow  Glenn's,  Kelly's  Farm,  Snodgrass  Hill, 


134  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Crawfish  Springs,  McDonald's,  Foe's,  Vittetoe's,  Brother- 
ton's,  Dyer's,  and  Viniyard's  in  two  days  were  lifted  into 
national  importance  as  points  of  a  great  battle-field.  I 
visited  the  field  twenty-eight  years  after  the  battle.  The 
only  change  was  a  growth  of  trees  on  some  of  the  plowed 
fields  and  a  new,  small  frame  house  by  the  side  of  the  old 
Kelly  log  house  near  which  our  division  fought  during  the 
two  days  of  the  battle. 

On  this  night  ride  through  the  woods,  Generals  Thomas 
and  Baird  rode  side  by  side,  and  the  two  staffs  mingled  to- 
gether behind,  like  the  long  tail  of  a  kite.  General  Thomas 
was  a  very  sedate  man,  who  said  but  little.  There  was 
about  him  at  all  times,  the  very  atmosphere  of  solid  merit 
and  reserve  strength.  There  was  nothing  that  suggested 
that  he  was  conscious  of  his  high  position,  or  that  he  could 
anticipate  any  of  the  glory  that  afterwards  came  to  him.  So 
as  we  rode  along  in  the  gloom  and  foreboding  stillness  of 
that  autumn  night,  no  one  in  that  cavalcade  could  have 
seen  in  the  modest  officer  so  quietly  riding  in  cur  front, 
the  true  hero  of  the  coming  conflict,  who  should  be  known 
after  that  battle  as  the  "  Rock  of  Chickamauga."  His  com- 
mand consisted  of  the  four  magnificent  divisions  of  Baird, 
Negley,  Brannan  and  Reynolds — more  than  twenty  thousand 
men.  Negley  had  been  left  in  position  during  this  march  to 
the  right  of  Crittenden,  but  the  other  three  were  on  the  road 
behind  us,  stretching  away  for  miles — how  many,  I  don't 
know.  General  Thomas  saw  Negley's  division,  as  a  whole 
no  more  until  after  the  battle,  but  the  other  three  were 
handled  magnificently  in  the  fight.  Brannan  lost  more 


JUST    BEFORE   CHICKAMAUGA  135 

in  killed  and  wounded  than  any  other  division  in  that 
array,  and  Reynolds  had  the  great  honor  of  opening  a  gap 
through  the  rebel  lines  by  a  bayonet  charge  at  the  close  of 
the  battle  through  which  Baird's  division  was  the  last  to  re- 
tire from  the  left  line,  on  the  retreat  to  Rossville. 

I  had  always  been  curious  to  know  how  the  route  taken 
by  our  division  from  Murfreesboro  to  Chickamauga  would 
look  upon  a  map  made  expressly  to  show  it. 

The  marches,  sometimes  by  roads,  often  across  country, 
over  fields  and  through  woods,  winding  over  mountains  by 
the  crookedest  paths,  which  ran  quite  often  in  the  opposite 
direction  from  our  destination,  seemed  at  the  time  to  me  (for 
I  had  no  occasion  to  keep  posted  by  maps  and  guides)  to  be 
exceedingly  haphazard.  That  we  ever  reached  our  destina- 
tion by  such  marches,  seemed  at  the  time  like  a  mira- 
cle. With  what  weary  eyes  the  tired  soldier  gazed  upon 
mountains  that  seemed  always  rising  before  him  and  never 
ending,  in  ridge  after  ridge  parallel  with  each  other,  with 
scarcely  enough  valley  between  them  in  which  to  camp  for 
the  night. 

Now,  in  looking  at  the  map  with  our  route  marked  out, 
one  can  see  how  remarkably  straight  to  our  objective,  that 
winding  and  doubling  march  finally  led  us.  This  is  so  for 
another  reason.  Our  objective,  when  the  occupation  of 
Chattanooga  was  abandoned,  was  the  rebel  army,  and  that 
finally  marched  to  meet  us. 

At  last  at  four  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  igth,  about 
daylight,  the  head  of  the  column  reached  the  Lafayette  road 
at  Kelly's  Farm,  while  the  head  of  the  rebel  column  was 


136  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

only  three  miles  or  less,  away.  There  was  an  inferior  look- 
ing log  house  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  and  here 
General  Thomas  halted  under  a  spreading  tree.  The  troops 
were  placed  across  the  road  facing  the  bridge  over  Chick- 
amauga  Creek  which  is  about  three  miles  southeast.  Gen- 
eral Thomas  lay  down  on  some  blankets,  saying  to  his  aide 
not  to  let  him  sleep  more  than  an  hour.  He  had  not  been 
lying  more  than  fifteen  minutes  when  Colonel  Daniel 
McCook  commanding  a  brigade  of  Gordon  Granger's 
corps,  rode  up  and  said  he  must  speak  to  the  general. 
He  was  immediately  awakened  and  McCook  reported  that 
he  had  burnt  a  bridge  after  a  brigade  of  rebels  had  crossed 
to  this  side  of  it.  That  this  brigade  could  be  captured  if 
enough  troops  were  immediately  sent  to  that  point.  Just 
then  Brannan's  division  was  passing  to  our  rear  to  take 
position  on  our  left.  He  was  ordered  to  hurry  in  the  direc- 
tion of  this  burnt  bridge.  It  proved  afterwards,  however, 
that  when  this  isolated  brigade  was  attacked,  it  grew  in  num- 
bers faster  than  FalstafFs  men  of  buckram,  and  in  point  of 
fact,  nearly  the  whole  rebel  army  was  on  our  side  of  the 
bridge. 

After  a  time  our  division  was  sent  in  support  of  Brannan. 
I  remember  how  the  troops  were  deployed  in  line  of  battle, 
followed  by  General  Baird  and  staff  down  through  that 
dense  forest.  It  was  not  long  before  the  enemy  was  struck 
and  as  the  first  artillery  shot  awakened  the  dim  light  of 
those  historic  woods,  Captain  Williams,  an  aide,  pulled  out 
his  watch  and  noted  the  time.  Thus  was  our  night  march 
ended,  and  the  great  battle  of  Chickamauga  was  opened. 


Monument  of  the  Twenty-First  Wisconsin  Infantry 
on  Battlefield  of  Chickamauga. 


Echoes  of  the  Civil  (far. 


CHAPTER  XII 
CHICKAMAUGA 

Reference  to  the  march  of  the  two  armies  from  Perryville  to  Chick- 
amauga — Two  problems  before  Rosecrans — First,  to  maneuvre 
Bragg  out  of  Chattanooga ;  second,  attack  and  if  possible  des- 
troy his  army — The  first  problem  solved  by  September  yth  when 
Bragg  abandoned  Chattanooga  and  moved  south — He  halted  at 
Lafayette  where  he  received  considerable  reinforcements — He 
then  turned  north  again — Failure  of  his  plans  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  divided  Union  army — The  Union  army  concentrated 
near  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill  on  West  Chickamauga,  directly 
across  the  pathway  of  Bragg's  army  back  to  Chattanooga — The 
battle  fought  on  the  igth  and  2Oth — A  description  of  the  battle — 
A  night  attack  by  Cleburne's  division  and  part  of  Cheatham's — 
The  formation  of  the  two  armies  on  the  morning  of  the  2Oth — The 
left  under  Thomas  held  their  position  all  day  Sunday — A  part  of 
the  right  wing  of  the  Union  army  gave  way  at  1 1  A.  M. — General 
Granger  came  at  half-past  one  o'clock  with  two  large  brigades 
from  McAfee's  Church  and  formed  on  the  right — For  hours, 
General  Thomas  cut  off  from  the  left — Palmer,  Johnson  and  Rey- 
nolds proposed  to  Baird  that  they  all  march  off  the  field — Baird 
refuses. 

THE  battle  of  Chickamauga  was  fought  on  the  iglh  and 
2oth  days  of  September,  1863,  on  the  wooded  slope,  lying 
between  the  West  Chickamauga  River  and  the  western  base 
of  Missionary  Ridge,  nine  miles  south  of  Chattanooga. 
While  Chattanooga  is  in  Tennessee  on  the  Tennessee  River, 
the  battle-field  is  in  the  state  of  Georgia.  It  is  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  from  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  southeast  of  Nashville. 

'37 


138  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

The  Union  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  commanded  by 
General  Rosecrans  and  the  rebel  Army  of  the  Tennessee  had 
Braxton  Bragg  for  its  chief.  These  same  armies  had  fought 
on  October  8,  1862,  the  battle  of  Perry ville,  within  seventy- 
five  miles  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  on  the  313!  of  De- 
cember, i862-January  2d,  1863,  the  battle  of  Stone's  River, 
near  Murfreesboro,  thirty  miles  south  of  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee. Bragg' s  army  had  retreated  from  both  of  these  his- 
toric fields,  and  the  Union  army  had  pushed  after  it  from 
Perryville  to  Stone  River  and  from  that  field  to  Tullahoma, 
Winchester,  Decherd  and  McMinnville  in  Tennessee,  at  the 
northwestern  base  of  the  Cumberland  plateau  where  in  July, 
1863,  it  lay  in  camp.  The  rebel  army  had  then  fallen  back 
to  Chattanooga. 

The  problem  then  before  the  Union  army  was  twofold : 

First,  to  maneuvre  Bragg  out  of  Chattanooga.  Second, 
to  attack  and  if  possible,  destroy  his  army. 

The  movement  began  on  August  16,  1863,  by  the  army 
crossing  at  different  points  over  the  Cumberland  range  of 
mountains.  It  then  moved  south  down  the  eastern  base 
until  it  came  to  the  Tennessee  River,  twenty-five  miles  below, 
or  west  of  Chattanooga. 

In  the  last  days  of  August  and  the  first  days  of  September, 
the  Union  army,  except  Crittenden's  twenty-first  corps, 
which  marched  towards  Chattanooga  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Tennessee  River,  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  at  three 
points  near  Bridgeport  and  Caperton's  Ferry.  It  kept  on 
over  two  high  mountain  ranges,  always  marching  towards 
the  southeast.  This  course  would  bring  it  eventually  into 


CHICKAMAUGA  1 39 

the  valley  south  of  Chattanooga.  Bragg  immediately  dis- 
covered the  danger  to  his  line  of  communications.  On  the 
7th  of  September,  he  evacuated  Chattanooga,  and  moved  his 
army  twenty-six  miles  south  to  Lafayette.  The  next  day  one 
division  of  Crittenden's  corps  of  the  Union  army  occupied  the 
city.  Thus  the  first  part  of  the  Union  problem  was  solved. 

Rosecrans  immediately  resolved  to  follow  the  retreating 
foe,  not  knowing  he  had  halted  at  Lafayette,  and  without 
concentrating  his  army  at  the  city  kept  on  with  his  original 
strategic  movements  over  the  mountains,  ordering  Crittenden 
to  follow  south  from  Chattanooga,  leaving  one  brigade  to 
hold  the  city. 

Bragg  began  to  receive  reinforcements  at  Lafayette,  from 
Mississippi  and  East  Tennessee,  and  Longstreet's  troops 
joined  from  Ringgold.  He  then  turned  again  towards  Chat- 
tanooga, but  fortunately  moved  so  cautiously  and  most  of 
the  time  indecisively  without  knowledge  of  the  position  of  the 
Union  army,  that  the  detached  corps  of  the  Union  army  were 
given  time  to  concentrate.  On  the  nth  of  September  as  the 
Union  fourteenth  corps  approached  Dug  Gap  in  the  last 
mountain  ridge  (Pigeon  Mountain)  between  it  and  Bragg's 
army,  the  latter  was  encountered  in  force  and  ready  for  at- 
tack. The  fourteenth  corps  declined  the  proffered  battle,  and 
drew  back  to  a  more  protected  and  more  available  position  at 
the  foot  of  Stevens'  Gap  in  Lookout  Mountain,  to  await  the 
coming  up  of  the  twentieth  corps  under  Major-General  Mc- 
Cook,  from  near  Summerville  almost  directly  south  of  Lafay- 
ette. At  this  time  the  three  Union  corps  were  about  twenty 
miles  from  each  other  and  the  rebel  army  was  practically  be- 


I4O  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

tween  the  fourteenth  and  twentieth  corps.  It  neglected  its 
golden  opportunity,  however,  to  strike  either  corps  in  its 
detached  location  and  by  some  hard  marching  and  skilful 
strategy,  the  three  corps  of  the  Union  army,  on  the  i8th  of 
September,  were  brought  within  supporting  distance  of  each 
other  on  the  west  bank  of  the  West  Chickamauga  River, 
facing  the  rebel  army  on  the  opposite  side  and  in  its  direct 
pathway  back  to  the  city.  This  made  a  battle  inevitable. 

Two  divisions  of  the  twenty-first  corps  on  that  day  lay  at 
Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill,  where  the  state  road  from  Lafayette 
to  Chattanooga  crosses  from  the  east  to  the  west  side  of 
Chickamauga  River.  Next  up  the  stream,  but  several  miles 
away  stretched  in  line,  the  fourteenth  corps,  under  General 
Thomas,  waiting  for  the  twentieth  corps  to  close  up  on  its 
right.  Minty's  brigade  of  cavalry  had  gone  to  Reed's 
Bridge,  and  Wilder's  brigade  of  mounted  infantry  to 
Alexander's  Bridge,  down  the  stream  from  Lee  and 
Gordon's  Mill.  General  Leonidas  Polk  had  marched  his 
rebel  corps  from  the  vicinity  of  Lafayette  to  this  mill  some 
days  before,  and  on  this  i8th  of  September,  was  confronting 
the  Union  twenty-first  corps,  but  seemed  afraid  to  attack, 
although  he  was  several  times  ordered  to  do  so  by  General 
Bragg.  The  delay  enabled  Rosecrans  to  bring  the  rest  of  the 
Union  army  to  that  position  before  the  battle  opened. 

On  the  1 8th  day  of  September,  the  rebel  army  was  in 
motion  down  the  stream,  which  here  runs  north,  on  the  east 
side  of  it,  and  was  constantly  reconnoitring  the  bridges  and 
fords.  It  was  repulsed  from  all  of  them,  until  it  had  passed 
below  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill.  General  Hood,  coming 


CHICKAMAUGA  141 

from  Ringgold,  had  crossed  his  corps  at  Reed's  Bridge  at 
3  P.  M.,  with  a  small  force  of  Forrest's  cavalry,  and  these 
were  the  first  troops  to  cross.  This  was  the  advance  of 
Longstreet's  reinforcements  coming  from  Lee's  army  in 
Virginia,  to  assist  Bragg  in  the  coming  battle.  In  his 
official  report,  General  Liddell,  commanding  a  division  in 
Walker's  corps,  says : 

"About  2  P.  M.,  on  Friday,  September  i8th,  I  was 
ordered  by  Major-General  Walker  to  take  Alexander's 
Bridge  across  the  Chickamauga.  ...  In  three-quarters 
of  an  hour  we  had  it  in  possession.  The  force  in  our  front 
consisted  of  Wilder's  mounted  infantry,  from  whom  we 
captured  a  half  dozen  or  more  breech-loading  rifles.  Our 
loss  was  one  hundred  and  five  killed  and  wounded,  and  I 
only  account  for  the  disproportion  from  the  efficiency  of  this 
new  weapon." 

But  the  floor  of  the  bridge  being  gone,  he  crossed  late  in 
the  afternoon  at  Byram's  Ford.  N.  B.  Forrest's  main 
column  of  rebel  cavalry  on  this  same  day  crossed  early  at 
a  ford  near  Alexander's  Bridge  and  marched  out  to  Jay's 
Mill  to  guard  the  right  flank  of  the  rebel  movements  of  the 
infantry  on  Crittenden  at  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill.  The 
West  Chickamauga  River,  here,  runs  a  little  east  of  north 
and  empties  into  the  Tennessee,  east  of  Chattanooga,  about 
five  miles.  Hence,  in  marching  back  to  Chattanooga,  the 
rebel  army  necessarily  had  to  cross  to  the  west  side  of  this 
stream.  The  natural  crossing  place  was  at  Lee  and 
Gordon's  Mill  on  the  Lafayette  state  road.  This  road, 
after  leaving  the  mill,  went  straight  north  six  miles  through 
Rossville  Gap,  in  Missionary  Ridge,  to  Chattanooga,  four 


142  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

miles  from  the  gap,  leaving  the  river  farther  and  farther 
to  the  right  or  east.  This  Rossville  Gap  was  a  very 
important  point  in  the  defense  of  Chattanooga.  Hence, 
Rosecrans  on  the  i3th  of  September,  had  sent  General 
Gordon  Granger  with  Steedman's  division  of  three  brigades 
from  Bridgeport,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  to  this  point. 
The  distance  was  thirty-five  miles  and  Granger  moved  with 
his  usual  energy,  and  arrived  there  the  next  day.  He 
guarded  the  roads  concentrating  at  this  gap  from  all  these 
bridges  and  fords.  On  the  i8th,  he  sent  Colonel  Dan 
McCook's  brigade  to  Reed's  Bridge  in  support  of  Minty's 
cavalry.  When  Forrest  attacked  Minty  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  1 8th,  Minty  fell  back  across  the  bridge.  Thus  at  the 
close  of  the  i8th,  the  right  of  the  rebel  army  was  across  the 
river ;  Folk's  corps  still  on  the  east  side  was  facing  Critten- 
den's  at  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill,  and  farther  up  the 
stream  lay  Hill's  rebel  corps,  facing  the  fourteenth  Union 
corps. 

When  the  day  closed,  Bragg  called  his  generals  to  his 
headquarters,  and  issued  his  orders  for  the  next  day.  He 
supposed  the  Union  left  lay  at  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill.  He 
ordered  that  his  remaining  troops  should  cross  at  the  bridges 
and  fords  below  the  mill,  as  rapidly  as  possible  the  next 
morning,  and  as  each  division  crossed,  it  should  turn 
sharply  to  the  left,  and  assault  the  Union  left  in  flank  at  the 
mill.  But  this  plan  was  frustrated  by  the  movements  of  the 
Union  army  during  the  night  of  September  i8th,  heretofore 
related.  Kelly's  Field,  three  and  one-half  miles  north  of 
Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill,  lay  on  the  east  side  of  the  road, 


CHICKAMAUGA  143 

perhaps  three-fourths  of  a  mile  long,  and  one- fourth  wide. 
Perhaps  one-half  a  mile  north  of  this  field,  the  Reed's 
Bridge  road  came  into  the  state  road.  In  the  triangle 
formed  by  this  state  road  from  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill  to 
the  Kelly  Farai,  north  and  south  ;  the  Reed's  Bridge  road, 
east  and  west,  and  the  river  was  fought  the  battle  of  the 
i gth.  It  was  perhaps  about  three  miles  on  each  side  and 
was  densely  wooded,  with  an  occasional  small  opening. 

General  Brannan,  in  his  official  report  says  :  "  Shortly 
after  7  A.  M.  on  the  igth  inst.,  the  second  brigade,  having 
advanced  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  towards  the  Chicka- 
mauga,  came  upon  a  strong  force  of  the  enemy  consisting  of 
two  divisions  instead  of  the  supposed  brigade,  who  made  a 
furious  attack,  repulsing  Colonel  Croxton's  first  advance." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  two  days'  battle.  These 
two  divisions  of  Brannan  and  Baird,  fought  for  perhaps  five 
hours  with  varying  success.  The  first  (Baird's)  division 
was  attacked  in  the  flank  and  rear,  and  lost  many  prisoners 
before  Johnson's  division  of  McCook's  corps,  about  noon 
arrived  on  the  right  of  Baird  and  in  turn  drove  the  rebels 
back. 

General  Crittenden,  commanding  the  twenty-first  corps  at 
Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill,  hearing  the  firing,  sent  John  M. 
Palmer's  division  to  General  Thomas.  It  arrived  about  one 
o'clock  and  attacked  in  flank  a  large  force  that  had  been 
fighting  Johnson.  Fighting  had  been  going  on  all  forenoon, 
from  7:30  by  Brannan  and  9  A.  M.  by  Baird's  division,  and 
then  by  Johnson  and  Palmer,  and  a  little  later  by  Reynolds' 
division,  which  had  come  up  from  the  direction  of  Crawfish 


144  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Springs.  While  all  this  was  going  on,  what  troops  on  the 
rebel  side  were  making  the  attack  ?  Let  us  take  a  glance  at 
the  movements  of  the  rebel  troops  that  then  lay  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Chickamauga  River,  that  were  then  unseen  by 
the  Union  army. 

It  was  N.  B.  Forrest's  cavalry  (he  of  Fort  Pillow  fame), 
3,500  strong  that  had  crossed  early  on  the  i8th.  The  ad- 
vance troops  of  Brannan,  as  before  mentioned,  struck  these 
at  Jay's  Mill  driving  them  back.  But  they  were  soon  rein- 
forced by  two  infantry  brigades  of  Walker's  corps. 


Forrest  in  his  official  report  says  :  "  They  "  (the  infantry 
brigades)  "  broke  the  enemy's  lines  and  could  not  be  halted 
or  withdrawn  until  nearly  surrounded.  We  fell  back  fight- 
ing and  contesting  the  ground  to  our  original  position  near 
the  mill  on  the  Reed's  Bridge  road.  General  Cheatham's 
division  coming  up  and  engaging  the  enemy,  drove  them 
for  some  distance,  but  was  in  turn,  compelled  to  fall  back. 
Seeing  General  Maney's  brigade  hard  pressed  and  retiring 
before  the  enemy,  I  hastened  to  his  relief  with  Freeman's 
battery  of  six  pieces,  dismounting  Colonel  Dibrell's  brigade 
to  support  it." 


Bragg's  division  and  brigade  commanders,  thus  soon  dis- 
covered that  instead  of  turning  to  the  left  after  crossing 
Chickamauga,  which  some  of  them  had  already  done,  they 
had  to  wheel  to  the  right  to  meet  a  turning  movement  by 
Thomas'  troops,  and  in  the  thick  woods,  at  times  so  dense 
that  a  colonel  could  not  see  the  length  of  his  regiment,  the 
varying  fortunes  of  the  day  veered,  first  to  the  Union  side 
and  then  to  the  other.  Frequently  the  two  sides  came  in 
contact  at  right  angles,  and  at  other  times  in  the  rear  of 


CH1CKAMAUGA  145 

each  other.  They  came  together  at  all  angles  of  the  com- 
pass. The  firing  was  deafening.  Both  sides  were  con- 
stantly bringing  up  reinforcements  and  sending  them  into 
the  battle.  When  the  day  closed,  Brannan  had  been  with- 
drawn from  the  extreme  Union  left  and  placed  near  the 
right  of  General  Thomas'  line,  not  far  from  the  point  where 
it  struck  Kelly's  Farm  in  the  early  morning.  Baird  was 
then  on  the  left,  and  R.  W.  Johnson  next  on  the  right. 
These  two  divisions  lay  resting  from  the  extreme  fatigue  of 
the  day's  fighting  after  sundown,  unconscious  that  Cle- 
burne's  fresh  rebel  division  had  just  arrived  on  their  front 
from  the  extreme  rebel  left  on  the  east  side  of  Chickamauga 
River,  and  was  then  marching  through  the  defeated  and 
prostrate  divisions  of  Walker  and  Cheatham  to  attack  them. 
Cleburne  was  joined  in  this  charge  by  two  brigades  of 
Cheatham's  division,  Jackson's  and  Preston  Smith's.  They 
covered  Johnson's  front  and  lapped  over  on  a  part  of  Baird's 
division. 

Johnson  says,  "  My  entire  line  was  attacked  by  an  over- 
whelming force  in  front,  flank,  and  rear.  Here  the  assault 
was  terrific,  but  darkness  soon  prevented  us  from  recogniz- 
ing friend  from  foe,  and  in  a  hand  to  hand  contest,  the 
enemy  was  repulsed." 

General  Baird  says  of  this  attack,  "  Just  as  the  light  of 
day  began  to  disappear,  I  heard  the  sounds  of  a  fierce  battle 
ia  front.  The  enemy  attacked  with  both  artillery  and  in- 
fantry in  apparently  large  force,  and  with  greater  determina- 
tion than  previously.  ...  It  was  quite  dark  before  it 
was  repulsed,  and  we  remained  in  possession  of  the 
ground." 

The  rebel  general,   D.   H.    Hill,   who  commanded  both 


146  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

Cleburne's  and  Breckinridge's  divisions,  speaking  of  this 
night  fight  in  his  official  report  said  : 

"  I  found  that  while  our  troops  had  been  moving  up  the 
Chickamauga"  (he  means  that  they  moved  up  after  crossing 
to  the  west  side),  "  the  yankees  had  been  hurrying  down,  and 
thus  outflanked  us,  and  had  driven  back  our  right  wing." 

General  Cheatham  says,  "At  6  p.  M.,  the  division  of 
General  Cleburne  arrived  on  the  field,  and  with  my  com- 
mand was  ordered  by  Lieutenant-General  Polk  to  attack  the 
enemy  at  once.  ...  In  the  night  attack,  Jackson's 
and  Smith's  brigades,  only,  of  my  command  encountered 
the  enemy.  ...  It  was  then  in  this  night  attack  that 
Brigadier-General  Preston  Smith  received  his  mortal  wound , 
from  which  he  died  in  fifty  minutes.  .  .  .  Two  of  his 
staff,  both  officers  of  excellent  merit,  were  killed  within  a 
few  minutes  of  General  Smith." 

I  have  been  thus  minute  in  describing  this  night  attack, 
simply  as  a  specimen  of  the  kind  of  fighting  along  the  whole 
line  during  the  day,  and  because  it  fell  under  my  close  ob- 
servation. Nearly  every  division  had  much  the  same  expe- 
rience during  the  ipth.  Breckinridge  and  Hindman  of  the 
rebel  side  did  not  get  in,  but  every  division  on  the  Union 
side  was  engaged. 

The  surgeon  general  of  the  Union  army  reported  that 
about  4,500  wounded  were  treated  on  the  igth. 

It  was  really  a  fight  for  position,  in  which  neither  gained 
any  ground  and  no  special  advantage.  Both  sides  knew  it 
would  be  renewed  on  the  morrow. 

In  the  conference  of  general  officers  that  night  at  Rose- 
crans'  headquarters,  it  was  decided  that  the  corps  command- 
ers should  place  their  troops  in  the  best  line  of  defense 


CHICK  AM  AUGA  147 

possible,  and  that  Johnson's  division  of  McCook's  corps  and 
Palmer's  division  of  Crittenden's  corps  should  remain  under 
the  command  of  General  George  H.  Thomas,  as  they  had 
fought  under  him  on  the  ipth. 

At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  zoth,  General 
Thomas  reformed  his  lines  in  a  most  admirable,  compact 
shape  around  the  edge  of  Kelly's  Farm,  the  point  where  our 
division  formed  in  line  of  battle  on  the  morning  of  the  ipth. 
It  was  placed  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  inside  the  woods, 
which  completely  surrounded  this  farm,  about  one-half  mile 
east  of  the  state  road,  the  troops  facing  east  away  from  the 
road.  Each  division  was  formed  in  two  lines,  and  both  lines 
were  protected  by  rude  log  works  thrown  up  by  the  soldiers 
themselves.  Thomas  had  command  of  five  divisions,  which 
were  drawn  up  from  left  to  right  as  follows  :  Baird's,  John- 
son's, Palmer's,  Reynolds',  who  had  only  two  brigades,  and 
Brannan's.  This  last  division  which  had  been  transferred 
from  the  extreme  left  on  the  afternoon  before,  was  thrown 
back  on  the  right  of  Reynolds',  in  what  soldiers  call  "en 
echelon."  Brannan's  left  was  connected  with  Reynolds' 
right  brigade  (King's)  which  was  en  echelon  with  Turchin's 
brigade.  These  divisions,  except  Brannan's  remained  in 
these  positions  all  day  on  the  2oth.  Baird's  left  brigade 
was  also  thrown  back  at  nearly  right  angles  with  his  main 
line,  forming  what  the  rebels  afterwards  called  the  "  bloody 
angle."  Baird's  left  did  not  reach  the  state  road.  To 
remedy  this,  Beatty's  brigade  of  Negley's  division  was 
brought  late  in  the  morning,  and  formed  in  a  thin  line  to 
protect  this  left  flank.  On  the  right  from  Brannan's  line 


148  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

west  and  facing  south,  came  at  first  Negley's  division  of 
Thomas'  corps  afterwards  relieved  by  Wood's  division,  then 
Davis'  and  Sheridan's  of  McCook's  corps.  Wood's  and 
Van  Cleve's  divisions  of  Crittenden's  corps  were  at  first  in 
reserve,  but  too  far  back  for  service. 

This  right  wing  from  the  right  of  Brannan's  line  was  not 
well  placed.  It  was  not  compact,  nor  did  it  properly  pro- 
tect itself  with  log  or  earth  works.  The  line  was  not  con- 
tinuous. These  omissions  later  on,  proved  fatal  to  it ;  and 
the  disaster,  in  consequence  of  these  omissions,  that  came  to 
the  right  wing,  finally  compelled  the  left  wing,  notwith- 
standing its  impregnable  position,  to  fall  back  to  a  new  posi- 
tion near  Rossville. 

This  Union  line  thus  formed  in  a  crescent  shape  across 
the  state  road,  facing  east  and  south,  was  confronted  on  the 
morning  of  the  zoth  (Sunday)  by  the  rebel  army,  drawn  up 
in  most  admirable  formation.  Forrest's  cavalry,  dismounted 
as  infantry  formed  their  extreme  right.  Next  was  Breckin- 
ridge,  then  Cleburne,  then  Stewart.  These  were  opposite 
General  Thomas'  protected  line,  but  extended  far  beyond 
Thomas'  left.  Only  Breckinridge's  left  brigade  (Helm's) 
and  part  of  Cleburne's  division  faced  Baird's  line  of  works. 
To  the  left  of  Stewart,  came  B.  R.  Johnson's  and  Hind- 
man's  divisions.  In  reserve,  behind  Breckinridge  was 
Walker's  corps  of  two  small  divisions.  Behind  Cleburne 
was  Cheatham's  large  division  of  five  brigades.  Formed  in 
compact  column  of  brigades  behind  B.  R.  Johnson's  divi- 
sion were  Law's  and  Kershaw's  divisions,  and  on  the  ex- 
treme left  "en  echelon"  behind  Hindman  was  Preston's 


CHICKAMAUGA  149 

division.  The  strong  feature  of  this  formation  was  the  large 
reserve  behind  every  division.  At  the  proper  time,  espe- 
cially on  the  rebel  left,  and  in  front  of  the  weak  Union 
right,  this  reserve  was  most  effectively  used. 

During  the  night  before,  General  Longstreet  had  arrived 
from  the  army  of  Virginia  preceded  by  large  reinforcements. 
Bragg  then  placed  him  in  command  of  his  left  wing,  con- 
sisting of  Stewart's,  B.  R.  Johnson's,  Law's,  Hindman's  and 
Preston's  divisions.  General  Polk  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  right  wing,  consisting  of  Forrest's  cavalry,  Breckin- 
ridge's,  Cleburne's  and  Cheatham's  divisions,  and  Walker's 
corps. 

Bragg  ordered  Polk  to  attack  the  extreme  Union  left  at 
daylight,  with  General  D.  H.  Hill's  two  divisions — Breckin- 
ridge  and  Cleburne.  But  for  some  reason,  which  Bragg, 
Polk  and  Hill  all  endeavored  to  explain  in  their  official  re- 
ports, it  was  not  made  until  9:30  A.  M.  At  this  time  Breck- 
inridge  advanced  with  his  three  brigades  in  one  line,  but  was 
surprised  to  encounter  no  enemy  except  in  front  of  his  left 
brigade,  commanded  by  General  Helm.  This  struck  Baird's 
bloody  angle,  and  was  badly  shattered,  and  General  Helm 
mortally  wounded.  Breckinridge's  other  two  brigades, 
Adams  on  the  right  and  Stovall  in  the  centre,  together  with 
the  right  regiment  of  Helm,  wheeled  to  their  left,  and  form- 
ing across  the  state  road,  facing  south,  with  a  battery  between 
them,  advanced  against  Beatty's  brigadewhich  alonecould  not 
hold  the  ground,  but  fell  away  to  the  left.  But  Van  Derveer's 
reserve  brigade  of  Brannan's  division,  and  Stanley's  brigade 
of  Negley's  division  were  brought.  These,  assisted  by  a  few 


I5O  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

troops  from  R.  W.  Johnson's  second  line,  assaulted  the 
rebels  with  great  vigor,  wounded  and  captured  General 
Adams,  and  drove  them  in  confusion  to  their  rear.  Breck- 
inridge's  whole  division  was  thus  repulsed  and  badly  cut  up. 

Cleburne's  attack  came  upon  the  right  of  Baird  and  the 
whole  of  Johnson,  but  he  could  make  no  impression. 
Wood's  brigade  of  Cleburne's,  in  the  dense  underbrush 
rnaneuvred  out  of  line,  and  moved  across  Palmer's  front. 
These  were  precisely  the  same  troops  on  both  sides,  that 
had  the  night  fight  of  the  evening  before.  Then  Stewart  ad- 
vanced on  Palmer  and  Reynolds  with  the  same  result. 

These  several  attacks  lasted  perhaps  two  hours  and  died 
away  with  a  general  repulse  of  the  whole  rebel  line.  Long- 
street,  on  the  rebel  left,  was  ready  to  follow  up  the  assaults. 
At  about  eleven  o'clock,  he  ordered  an  advance  of  his  whole 
wing. 

Unfortunately,  at  this  time,  the  right  wing  of  the  Union 
army  was  being  readjusted.  Wood,  who  had  taken  Negley's 
position  in  front  when  two  of  Negley's  brigade  were  sent  to 
Thomas'  left,  was  in  the  act  of  withdrawing  from  his  posi- 
tion to  move  behind  Brannan,  under  a  mistaken  order  of 
Rosecrans,  telling  him  to  close  up  and  support  Reynolds. 
To  fill  the  space  thus  left  vacant,  Davis'  division  next  on  the 
right  to  Wood,  was  moving  by  the  left  flank,  and  Sheridan 
was  on  the  double-quick  to  report  to  Thomas,  to  be  placed 
on  the  left  of  Baird.  Bushrod  Johnson's  division  of  Bragg's 
army,  with  Law's  and  Kershaw's  divisions  behind  it  in  sup- 
port, there  being  eight  brigades  in  three  lines  was  directly 
in  front  of  Wood's  position,  and  when  that  was  vacated,  he 


CHICKAMAUGA  1 5  I 

happened,  for  it  is  not  probable  that  he  knew  that  Wood 
was  moving  out,  to  be  executing  Longstreet's  order  to  ad- 
vance, and  charged  through  the  opening,  striking  one  of 
Wood's  brigades  and  a  part  of  Davis'  division  on  the  flank, 
while  they  were  moving.  At  the  same  time,  Hindman  at- 
tacked the  rest  of  Davis'  troops,  and  the  division  of  Sheri- 
dan, all  being  in  motion.  These  Union  troops  were  not  in 
a  position  for  defense,  and  necessarily  fell  back  in  confusion 
to  the  rear.  Brannan  soon  found  the  rebel  line  on  his  right 
flank  and  rear.  He  fell  back  hurriedly  to  the  rear  and 
formed  a  new  line  with  some  deliberation,  on  Snodgrass 
Hill.  Wood  hurried  his  only  organized  brigade,  Harker's, 
and  one  or  two  other  detached  regiments  into  the  space  be- 
tween Brannan' s  left  and  Reynolds'  right  in  time  to  repulse 
the  assault  there,  after  which  he  joined  on  the  left  of 
Brannan's  new  line  on  Snodgrass  Hill.  Negley  had  gath- 
ered some  troops  of  his  division  and  a  large  number  of 
pieces  of  artillery  on  a  hill  to  the  right  and  rear  of  Brannan's 
new  position.  This  was  a  mistaken  execution  of  an  order 
from  General  Thomas,  who  had  directed  him  when  Beatty 
and  Stanley  fell  away  to  the  west  after  the  attack  of  Breckin- 
ridge's,  to  rally  and  post  them  with  all  the  artillery  he  could 
gather,  in  a  position  to  protect  Baird's  left,  and  facing  the 
state  road.  But  here  he  was  in  position  instead  to  protect 
the  right  of  the  army,  with  his  back  to  the  state  road,  and 
Brannan  says  he  promised  to  stay  there  and  keep  Longstreet 
from  swinging  into  the  rear.  He  did  not  stay,  however. 
He  marched  away  with  the  reserve  artillery  and  the  rem- 
nants of  his  division  towards  Rossville.  Two  Union 


152  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

divisions  and  Wilder' s  mounted  brigade  cut  off  on  the  right 
were  now  out  of  the  fight  and  did  not  return  again.  This 
left  Thomas  at  half-past  twelve  o'clock  with  the  divisions  of 
Baird,  Johnson,  Palmer,  and  Reynolds'  two  brigades,  be- 
hind log  breastworks,  Wood,  with  one  brigade,  only,  and 
three  regiments  of  Stanley's  brigade  of  Negley's  division 
and  Brannan's  three  brigades.  There  were  two  or  three 
regiments  besides  these  that  had  not  retreated  with  their 
divisions,  notably  the  Twenty-first  Ohio  Infantry,  which  fell 
in  with  the  line  at  Wood's  and  Brannan's  front.  These 
steadfast  organizations  had  been  greatly  reduced  in  numbers 
by  the  great  losses  of  the  previous  day  and  the  forenoon  of 
this  day.  The  rebel  line  now  outflanked  the  Union  troops 
on  both  the  right  and  left,  and  so  greatly  outnumbered  them 
on  the  field  that  without  unexpected  aid,  it  looked  as  if  the 
battle  would  end  then  and  there  in  the  defeat  and  capture 
of  the  staying  Union  troops  with  their  leader,  General 
Thomas.  Fortunately  the  troops  on  the  Union  left  did  not 
know  of  this  disaster  to  the  right.  They  fought  on  and 
held  their  line,  always  repulsing  the  enemy. 

Granger  with  his  three  brigades,  three  miles  to  the  north 
at  McAfee's  Church,  one  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Rossville 
Gap  had  heard  the  firing  with  much  impatience,  and  having 
general  orders  to  support  and  protect  the  main  line,  started 
without  special  orders  but  with  the  instinct  of  a  true  soldier, 
at  noon,  with  two  brigades  towards  the  firing.  When 
within  two  miles  of  Thomas'  left,  they  met  Forrest's  skir- 
mishers, and  were  shelled  by  his  batteries  during  the  rest  of 
their  march.  This  delayed  them  for  a  time,  but  at  half- 


CHICK  AM  AUGA  I$3 

past  one  o'clock,  Granger  rode  up  to  General  Thomas  on 
Snodgrass  Hill.  Thomas  immediately  pointed  to  Brannan's 
right  and  the  two  brigades  formed  line  at  that  place  just  in 
time  to  stop  a  turning  column  of  Hindman's  division  of 
rebel  troops.  The  firing  here  was  deafening  and  the  fighting 
of  the  most  desperate  character,  but  the  rebels  were  forced 
back  and  the  hill  held. 

Before  going  into  this  fight,  Granger  had  sent  back  for 
his  remaining  brigade  (Dan  McCook's)  to  follow  him.  It 
did  so,  and  was  placed  on  a  high  point  near  the  Cloud 
House,  where  a  field  hospital  had  been  established  in  the 
left  rear  of  Baird's  position,  but  too  far  back  and  did  no 
fighting.  It  should  have  been  placed  immediately  on  the 
prolongation  of  Baird's  left,  which  would  have  prevented 
Gist's  rebel  brigade  from  marching  later,  boldly  in  rear  of 
the  Union  army  around  the  left.  Now,  at  2  p.  M.,  the 
four  divisions  on  the  left  held  the  same  impregnable  line  of 
the  morning,  but  how  sadly  changed  was  the  line  on  the 
right  and  west  of  Reynolds'  position  !  It  had  been 
shortened  by  the  retreat  of  two  divisions,  and  what  was 
left  of  it,  had  swung  back  upon  its  left  pivot  at  Reynolds' 
right,  until  the  whole  Union  army  was  in  the  shape  of  a 
flattened  crescent. 

From  Reynolds  to  the  right,  the  brigades  were  in  the  fol- 
lowing order :  Willich  and  Hazen  taken  from  Thomas' 
original  front,  Harker  of  Wood's  division,  most  of  Stanley's 
brigade,  Brannan's  two  and  one-half  brigades,  then  the  large 
brigades  of  Whittaker  and  Mitchell  of  Granger's  corps. 
They  fought  thus  through  that  long  afternoon  against  the 


154  ECHOES    OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

five  divisions  of  Longstreet,  often  without  ammunition,  but 
always  holding  the  enemy  at  bay.  For  a  long  time  the  four 
divisions  on  the  left  were  cut  off,  and  received  no  order 
from  General  Thomas,  nor  could  any  communication  be 
made  to  him.  During  the  entire  afternoon,  there  was  more 
or  less  of  a  gap  between  Reynolds'  right  and  Brannan  or 
Hazen.  The  enemy  failed  to  take  advantage  of  this  open- 
ing. Some  time  during  the  afternoon — perhaps  about  two 
o'clock — Johnson,  Palmer  and  Reynolds  came  to  Baird  to 
discuss  the  situation.  They  did  not  know  where  General 
Thomas  was  and  could  get  no  word,  either  to  or  from  him. 
Palmer  was  the  ranking  officer.  It  was  proposed  by  these 
three  generals  to  General  Baird,  that  General  Palmer  be  al- 
lowed to  take  command  of  the  four  divisions  and  march 
them  from  the  field.  Baird  declined,  saying  that  he  had 
been  repulsing  the  enemy  all  day,  and  that  he  could  con- 
tinue doing  so  until  orders  could  come  from  General 
Thomas.  So  the  four  divisions  remained  in  place.  It  was 
about  this  time  that  Granger  was  going  into  position  with  the 
two  brigades  he  had  brought  from  McAfee's  Church  without 
orders  towards  the  sound  of  the  battle,  and  General  Thomas 
was  personally  superintending  the  placing  of  them  on  the 
right  of  Brannan  and  the  other  troops,  nearly  a  mile  away, 
and  almost  in  our  direct  rear. 

Had  these  four  divisions  been  then  marched  away  from 
the  positions  occupied  by  them,  as  proposed  by  these  gen- 
erals, the  forces  at  Snodgrass  Hill  would  have  soon  been  at- 
tacked in  the  rear  by  the  Confederate  troops  facing  us.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  say  that  in  such  an  event,  the  disaster  to 


CHICKAMAUGA  155 

the  Union  army  would  have  been  irretrievable  ;  it  would  not 
have  stopped  at  Chattanooga.  It  is  likely  that  the  subse- 
quent fighting  would  have  been  much  nearer  the  Ohio 
River.  The  Atlanta  campaign  and  the  march  to  the  sea 
might  have  thus  been  indefinitely  postponed.  General 
Absalom  Baird  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  preventing  that 
threatened  disaster. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
CHICKAMAUGA  (Continued) 

Rosecrans,  McCook  and  Crittenden  went  to  Chattanooga — Garfield 
made  his  way  from  Rossville  to  General  Thomas — The  Union 
army  retreats  by  order  of  Rosecrans,  to  Rossville — Its  manner  of 
falling  back — Extracts  from  reports  of  rebel  generals  and  colonels 
who  made  attacks  on  Thomas'  line — Granger  wanted  Thomas  to 
disobey  Rosecrans'  order  and  remain  on  the  field — Reason  why  it 
could  not  be  done — The  losses  given  and  the  probable  number  of 
troops  on  each  side — The  loss  on  the  rebel  side  the  largest  of  the 
war — Curiosities  of  names  and  the  prominence  of  officers  in  this 
battle — General  Bates'  rhetorical  report — Dana's  characteristic 
dispatches  to  the  War  Department — Reference  to  the  National 
Military  Park  afterwards  established  on  the  battle-field. 

ROSECRANS,  in  his  official  report  says,  in  volume  30,  part  i, 
"  Rebellion  Records,"  page  60  : 

"  The  fight  on  the  left  "  (meaning  that  part  of  the  army 
left  on  the  field)  "after  2  p.  M.,  was  that  of  the  army. 
Never  in  the  history  of  this  war,  at  least,  have  troops  fought 
with  greater  energy  and  determination.  Bayonet  charges, 
often  heard  of,  but  seldom  seen,  were  repeatedly  made  by 
brigades  and  regiments  in  several  of  our  divisions." 

Until  four  o'clock,  Thomas  did  not  know  certainly  that 
the  right  had  been  defeated  and  that  in  the  tide  of  retreat, 
Rosecrans,  Major-General  McCook,  Crittenden,  Sheridan, 
Davis  and  Negley  had  been  carried  away  from  the  battle. 
They  did  not  again  come  upon  the  field.  General  James  A. 
Garfield,  who  was  Rosecrans'  chief  of  staff,  after  accom- 
panying the  latter  as  far  as  Rossville,  came  back  with  the 

156 


CHlCKAMAUGA  157 

knowledge  and  consent  of  Rosecrans,  with  some  other  staff 
officers,  and  made  his  way  through  Rossville  Gap  to 
Thomas.  Rosecrans,  McCook  and  Crittenden  had  kept  on 
to  Chattanooga.  General  Thomas  in  his  official  report 
says: 

"  General  Garfield,  chief  of  staff  to  General  Rosecrans, 
reached  this  position  about  4  p.  M.  .  .  .  He  gave  me 
the  first  reliable  information  that  the  right  and  centre  of  our 
army  had  been  driven,  and  of  its  condition  at  that  time.  I 
soon  after  received  a  dispatch  from  General  Rosecrans,  di- 
recting me  to  assume  command  of  all  the  forces.  . 
Take  a  strong  position,  and  assume  a  threatening  attitude  at 
Rossville.  ...  I  determined  to  hold  the  position  until 
nightfall  if  possible.  .  .  .  At  5:30  P.  M.,  Captain 
Barker  of  my  staff  was  sent  to  notify  General  Reynolds  to 
commence  the  movement,  and  I  left  the  position  behind 
General  Wood's  command  to  meet  Reynolds  and  point  out 
to  him  the  position  where  I  wished  him  to  form  line,  to 
cover  the  retirement  of  the  other  troops  on  the  left." 

He  then  tells  how  a  rebel  line  had  formed  along  the  state 
road  behind  the  Union  left,  and  that  Reynolds'  leading  bri- 
gade (Turchin's)  in  moving  back,  made  a  charge  on  it  and 
drove  it  far  beyond  Baird's  left.  This  was  Gist's  troops  of 
Walker's  corps,  which  corps  had  advanced  some  time  after 
the  repulse  of  Breckinridge. 

Reynolds  then  formed  his  two  brigades  and  Willich's  of 
Johnson's  division  in  line  in  a  favorable  position  and  behind 
these,  the  divisions  of  Palmer,  Johnson  and  Baird  success- 
ively fell  back.  Baird's  division  was  the  last  to  leave  the 
original  front  line.  After  dark  all  were  on  the  road,  and  at 
midnight  the  whole  Union  army  was  concentrated  at  Ross- 
ville, about  four  miles  from  the  battle-field. 


158  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Now,  in  order  to  determine  how  valuable  and  effective 
these  works  on  the  left  were,  in  enabling  the  left  four  divi- 
sions of  General  Thomas  to  disable  the  enemy,  let  us  see  how 
badly  the  troops  opposed  to  them  were  used  up.  Helm's 
brigade  of  Breckinridge's  division  and  Cleburne's  division, 
especially  Folk's  brigade,  assaulted  the  line  held  by  Baird. 
Adams  and  Stovall  also  came  in  on  the  rear  of  Baird. 

General  P.  R.  Cleburne  in  his  official  report  of  the  battle 
of  Chickamauga,  says,  "  About  ten  o'clock  next  morning, 
September  2oth,  I  received  orders  ...  to  advance. 
Folk's  brigade  and  the  right  of  Wood's  encountered 
the  heaviest  artillery  fire  I  have  ever  experienced.  I  was 
now  within  short  canister  range  of  a  line  of  log  breastworks, 
and  a  hurricane  of  shot  and  shell  swept  the  woods  from  the 
unseen  enemy  in  my  front." 

The  unseen  enemy  were  Baird's  and  Johnson's  divisions. 
Cleburne  retired  his  line,  and  did  not  again  attempt  an  at- 
tack until,  he  says,  about  3:30  P.  M.  But  it  must  have  been 
later,  say,  5:30  p.  M.,  for  he  says  he  carried  the  works  and 
followed  to  the  Chattanooga  and  Lafayette  road.  But  he 
did  not  carry  any  part  of  the  works  while  we  were  in  them. 
He  occupied  them  because  we  were  ordered  by  General 
Thomas  to  retreat,  and  it  happened  that  at  the  time  the 
order  was  being  obeyed,  Cleburne  was  making  the  assault. 
We  could  have  held  the  works  easily  enough  from  any  at- 
tack in  front,  but  we  were  ordered  to  fall  back  as  part  of 
the  movement  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  army.  Cleburne 
and  his  brigade  commanders  all  say  they  carried  the  works. 
This  is  not  true.  He  occupied  works  that  were  abandoned. 
Wood  reported  a  loss  in  his  brigade  of  ninety-six  killed  and 


CHICKAMAUGA  1 59 

six  hundred  and  eighty  wounded.  The  colonel  of  the  con- 
solidated Thirty-second  and  Forty-fifth  Mississippi  says  of 
the  first  attack  at  10  A.  M.  on  the  2oth,  "  In  a  very  short 
time,  I  lost  over  one-fourth  of  my  command  killed  and 
wounded." 

General  Polk,  commanding  a  brigade  that  came  directly 
against  Starkweather  and  Scribner  says,  "My  line  from 
right  to  left  soon  became  furiously  engaged,  the  enemy 
pouring  a  most  destructive  fire  of  canister  and  musketry 
into  my  advancing  line — so  terrible,  indeed,  that  my  line 
could  not  advance  in  the  face  of  it,  but  lying  down,  par- 
tially protected  by  the  crest  of  a  hill,  we  continued  the  fight 
an  hour  and  a  half." 

Colonel  Colquitt,  who  commanded  the  first  Arkansas 
infantry  in  Folk's  brigade  says  that  the  first  charge  in 
the  forenoon  lasted  "somewhat  more  than  two  hours." 

Helm's  brigade  of  Breckinridge's  division  struck  the 
regular  brigade  and  went  to  pieces.  Breckinridge  says, 
"Twice  they  renewed  the  assault  with  the  utmost  resolu- 
tion, but  were  too  small  to  storm  the  position."  Breckin- 
ridge's division  was  knocked  out  as  badly  as  Cleburne's 
and  did  not  renew  the  charge  until  the  evening  at  the  same 
time  that  we  were  ordered  to  retreat. 

In  the  last  charge,  both  Breckinridge  and  Cleburne  re- 
port that  several  hundred  of  the  regular  brigade  ran  into 
their  lines  and  were  made  prisoners.  The  assault  by  Helm's 
brigade  was  followed  first  by  that  of  Gist's  and  then  by 
Ector's.  They  were  all  repulsed  and  badly  used  up. 
Walker's  division,  followed  by  Cheatham's,  assaulted  in 
the  afternoon. 


l6o  ECHOES   OF  THE   CIVIL  WAR 

General  Walker,  in  his  report  says :  "  Breckinridge's 
division  having  fallen  back,  General  Hill  having  reported 
Cleburne's  division  on  Breckinridge's  left  routed,  my  re- 
serve corps  having  fallen  back  in  the  detachments  in  which 
they  were  sent  in  and  a  column "  (Gorden  Granger's 
troops),  "  having  been  observed  marching  down  the  Chat- 
tanooga road  on  our  right,  I  was  compelled  to  insist  on  hav- 
ing something  to  do  with  my  own  command." 

If  Granger  could  have  been  sent  in  on  the  right  flank  of 
all  these  troops,  what  havoc  would  have  occurred  !  There 
would  have  been  a  regular  rout,  and  in  a  short  time,  a 
part  or  all  of  Thomas'  corps  could  have  been  transferred  to 
the  right  and  a  rout  would  have  been  probable  there.  This 
is  only  conjecture. 

Gist  says  of  his  assault,  "  One-third  of  the  gallant  com- 
mand was  either  killed  or  wounded.  Reeling  under  the 
storm  of  bullets,  having  lost  all  but  two  of  their  field  offi- 
cers, the  brigade  fell  back  fighting  to  the  position  from 
which  they  advanced." 

Wilson,  for  his  brigade  says  of  this  charge  at  10  A.  M., 
"After  a  very  unsatisfactory  fight"  (it  was  entirely  satis- 
factory to  the  Union  troops)  "  lasting  probably  forty- five 
minutes,  and  in  which  we  lost  some  valuable  officers  and  a 
few  men,  we  were  ordered  to  fall  back  and  reform." 

General  Liddell  says,  "  After  a  severe  engagement,  in 
which  the  enemy  gave  way  opposite  the  right  "  (there  were 
no  breastworks  there)  "  and  pressed  forward  in  large  force 
on  the  left  of  the  brigade,  thus  apparently  designing  to  cut 
him  off,  Colonel  Govan  was  forced  to  retire  rapidly  to  avoid 
destruction." 

Govan's  advanced  position  was  in  rear  of  our  division  in 
the  Kelly  field,  doubling  back  a  part  of  the  regular  brigade. 
At  this  time  my  colored  servant,  Jasper,  was  making  me 


CHICKAMAUGA  l6l 

some  coffee  in  that  open  field.  Going  back  to  see  what 
this  advance  of  Govan's  was,  I  encountered  Jasper  with 
my  reserve  horses  at  this  fire,  and  the  coffee  on  the  fire. 
I  had  to  drive  him  off  the  field.  He  did  not  seem  to 
realize  his  danger.  Our  rear  regiments  assisted  by  Willich 
of  Johnson's  drove  Govan  away.  Govan  also  tells  about 
going  again  to  this  position  in  the  Kelly's  field  about  five 
o'clock  with  Walthall  on  his  right,  and  being  again  driven 
out — this  time  in  confusion.  This  was  the  result  of  Rey- 
nolds' charge  when  he  began  the  retreat  of  Thomas'  line. 

Walthall  tells  substantially  the  same  tale  of  being  driven 
back  twice  on  Sunday  by  the  heavy  firing  of  our  lines.  So 
that  Baird's  position  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  Union  line 
was  furiously  assaulted  by  Breckinridge's,  Cleburne's, 
Walker's  and  Cheatham's  divisions  in  succession,  but 
held  its  impregnable  line  against  them  all,  until  three 
times  ordered  by  General  Thomas  to  retire.  There  were 
twelve  brigades  in  the  charging  lines.  Other  troops  were 
brought  up  only  on  our  left  beyond  our  position,  never  to 
our  line  of  breastworks.  The  twelve  brigades  charging 
these  lines  report  a  loss  of  6,718  in  killed  and  wounded. 
It  is  not  possible  to  segregate  the  loss  of  these  brigades  on 
the  2oth  from  the  whole  two  days,  but  I  think  it  would 
amount  to  5,000. 

Suppose  the  whole  army  had  been  as  well  placed  and 
fortified  as  was  the  left  on  the  night  of  the  ipth,  it  is  alto- 
gether probable  that  the  rebel  army  would  have  retreated 
badly  used  up.  Thus  ended  this  great  and  remarkable 
battle. 


1 62  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

General  Granger  wanted  Thomas  to  disobey  Rosecrans' 
order  to  fall  back  to  Rossville,  declaring  the  rebels  defeated, 
and  renew  the  battle  on  the  morrow.  But  unfortunately, 
all  the  ammunition  train  had  been  sent  to  Chattanooga  by 
some  unauthorized  person,  and  the  rebel  army  still  out- 
flanked us  on  both  wings.  Could  the  troops  that  had  re- 
treated, been  returned  to  the  field,  and  spent  the  night  of 
the  2oth  in  protecting  themselves  as  well,  and  in  as  compact 
a  line  as  the  left  had  done  during  the  night  of  the  1 9th,  I 
believe  the  rebels  would  have  retreated.  I  can  testify  that 
upon  the  left,  we  were  still  fresh  and  little  hurt  by  the  last 
day's  fighting. 

At  the  time  of  receiving  the  order  to  retreat,  Baird  sent 
back  word  to  General  Thomas  that  we  were  constantly  re- 
pulsing the  enemy  and  were  then  driving  them  back.  We 
did  not  then  know  that  the  right  had  given  way,  and  that 
our  retreat  was  almost  cut  off. 

In  this,  what  may  appear  a  rather  tedious  and  uninterest- 
ing recital  of  the  movements  of  a  great  battle,  1  have 
omitted  the  mention  of  numerous  advances  and  repulses 
of  the  enemy  upon  the  right  of  the  Union  line,  where 
D.  H.  Hill  said  the  rebel  dead  lay  thicker  than  he  had  seen 
them  in  any  other  place.  The  charges  there  were  very  fre- 
quent, and  the  fighting  perhaps  never  surpassed  in  fierceness. 
I  am  also  aware  that  no  description  can  bring  to  the  minds 
of  those  who  never  saw  a  battle,  any  proper  realization  of 
the  sacrifice  of  human  life  ;  the  intense  excitement  and  strain 
upon  the  physical  and  mental  powers,  of  the  combatants; 
the  hurried  movements  of  the  troops ;  the  constant  dread 


CHICKAMAUGA  163 

of  disaster;  the  destruction  of  property;  and  the  suffering 
of  the  wounded. 

During  the  battle,  prisoners  were  being  captured  by  both 
sides  at  all  hours.  The  Union  army  lost  in  prisoners  in  the 
two  days  about  4,770,  a  majority  of  whom  were  wounded 
and  left  on  the  field,  and  many  others  failed  to  leave  the 
field  at  the  close  of  the  battle  through  a  misunderstanding  of 
orders.  Some  were  unwilling  to  take  the  chances  of  leaving 
the  protection  of  the  log  works  until  it  was  too  late.  The 
Union  army  captured  a  little  more  than  2,000  prisoners. 
But  what  of  the  killed  and  wounded  !  These  furnish  the 
evidence'  of  the  great  fighting  and  persistent  bravery,  the 
grit  and  perseverance  of  the  common  soldiery  on  each  side. 
The  Union  loss  was  11,338  of  all  arms,  killed  and  wounded. 
This  is  large;  but  Longstreet  says  in  his  book,  "From 
Manassas  to  Appomattox,"  that  the  Confederate  killed  and 
wounded  at  Chickamauga  were  16,986.  He  claims  they 
had  a  few  under  60,000  present  in  the  battle,  so  that  more 
than  one-fourth,  over  twenty- eight  per  cent,  were  hit. 
The  Union  army  had  about  55,000,  but  had  only  11,338 
hit,  or  a  little  more  than  one-fifth  or  less  than  twenty-two 
per  cent.  This  rebel  loss  here  is  greater  than  the  loss  in 
killed  and  wounded  in  the  rebel  army  at  Gettysburg,  and 
the  largest  rebel  loss  during  the  Civil  War  in  a  single  battle. 
Here  was  an  aggregate  of  28,324  men  on  both  sides  struck 
by  shot  and  shell,  a  number  equal  to  the  population  of  a 
small  city.  No  wonder  the  rebel  army  failed  to  advance  to 
the  new  position  at  Rossville  the  next  day.  and  there  is 
justification  for  its  slow  movement  into  position  around 


164  ECHOES   OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Chattanooga  during  the  last  days  of  September.     It  never 
won  another  battle. 

The  rebel  general,  D.  H.  Hill,  who  as  I  said  before, 
commanded  a  corps  of  two  divisions  in  this  battle,  in  an 
article  he  wrote  upon  Chickamauga  for  the  Century  Maga- 
zine, long  after  the  war,  said  : 

"  But  the  commander-in-chief  (Bragg)  did  not  know  of 
the  victory  until  the  morning  of  the  2ist,  and  then  did  not 
order  a  pursuit.  .  .  .  There  was  no  more  splendid 
fighting  in  '61,  when  the  flower  of  the  southern  youth  was 
in  the  field,  than  was  displayed  in  the  bloody  days  of 
September,  '63.  But  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  elan  of  the 
southern  soldier  was  never  seen  after  Chickamauga ;  that 
brilliant  dash  that  distinguished  him  was  gone  forever.  He 
was  too  intelligent  not  to  know  that  the  cutting  in  two  of 
Georgia  meant  death  to  all  his  hopes.  .  .  .  He  fought 
stoutly  to  the  last,  but  after  Chickamauga,  with  the  sul- 
lenness  of  despair  and  without  the  enthusiasm  of  hope. 
That  '  barren  victory  '  sealed  the  fate  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy." 

That  is  the  testimony  of  a  rebel  general  who  had  per- 
sonally served  in  Lee's  army  of  Virginia.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  the  second  part  of  the  problem  which  the  Union 
army  started  out  to  solve  in  this  campaign,  viz. :  the 
destruction  of  the  rebel  army  was  practically  accomplished 
by  this  battle ;  its  power  to  win  future  victories  was  des- 
troyed, yet  it  was  technically  a  Union  defeat,  because  the 
field  was  left  in  possession  of  the  rebel  army.  The  imme- 
diate result  of  this  battle  might  have  been  different,  had  the 
right  wing  on  Sunday  morning  been  placed  in  the  same 
compact  formation  in  which  the  left  was  ;  or  if  after  the 


CHICKAMAUGA  165 

right  was  broken,  the  divisions  cut  off,  had  reformed  under 
a  competent  commander,  been  joined  by  Wilder's  mounted 
brigade,  which  was  also  cut  off  in  the  same  neighborhood, 
and  R.  B.  Mitchell's  cavalry  corps  which  was  guarding  the 
right  flank  of  the  Union  army  beyond  Crawfish  Springs,  and 
this  combined  force  had  been  led  in  attack  against  the  rear 
of  Longstreet's  wing  while  it  was  fighting  the  Union  right, 
at  or  after  the  time  of  Granger's  arrival  on  the  field.  The 
reports  of  the  rebel  generals  say  that  an  attack  from  that 
direction  was  what  they  feared.  But  there  was  no  general 
officer  within  ten  miles  of  the  battle-field  to  organize  and 
lead  such  a  force  at  such  a  time. 

Rosecrans,  McCook  or  Crittenden  was  the  only  one  who 
could  have  done  it,  but  all  three  were  at  Chattanooga.  Had 
one  division,  Sheridan's  for  instance,  attacked  on  that  flank 
with  the  vigor  that  Granger  did  when  he  arrived  from 
McAfee's  Church,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  rebel  army 
would  have  retreated  at  about  the  time  the  Union  army  did. 
But  while  Granger  was  marching  towards  the  battle-field  on 
one  side  of  Missionary  Ridge,  Sheridan  was  marching  away 
from  it  on  the  other  side.  Suppose,  however,  that  the  rebel 
army  had  retreated  from  the  field  and  left  the  Union  army 
in  temporary  possession.  The  final  result  would  have  been 
the  same  that  it  was.  The  Union  army  would  have  fallen 
back  to  Chattanooga,  just  as  it  did,  to  recuperate  and  form 
a  new  base  for  a  new  campaign  in  two  months  or  more,  or  in 
the  spring  of  1864.  This  is  what  actually  occurred. 

But  we  must  not  think  too  harshly  of  those  troops  that  were 
cut  off.  Sheridan's  division  had  fought  well,  up  to  the  time 


1 66  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

of  its  retreat,  and  its  reported  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
almost  equalled  any  other  Union  division  except  Biannan's, 
which  lost  the  most  in  killed  and  wounded.  Ncgley's  di- 
vision lost  the  least.  Baird's  division  lost  the  largest  aggre- 
gate of  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners.  As  we  all  know, 
Sheridan  was  a  genuine  soldier,  who  afterwards  did  great 
service  for  the  Union.  Davis  afterwards  commanded  the 
Fourteenth  Corps  and  was  known  as  a  fighter.  Rosecrans, 
A.  McD.  McCook,  Crittenden,  Negley  and  Van  Cleve  were 
afterwards  relieved  from  command,  and  this  battle  practically 
ended  their  war  service. 

The  general  officers,  on  the  Union  side,  who  came  out  of 
this  battle  with  the  greatest  credit  were  Thomas,  Brannan, 
Baird,  Granger,  Steedman,  Palmer,  Reynolds ;  and  as 
brigade  commanders,  Hazen,  Marker,  Van  Derveer,  Crox- 
ton,  Whittaker,  and  John  G.  Mitchell.  The  reports  of  the 
Union  side  are  very  full  and  the  statistics,  as  published  in 
the  record  are  copious  and  accurate.  But  the  rebel  reports 
are  many  of  them  lacking  in  statistics,  and  it  is  very  difficult 
to  estimate  their  aggregate  numbers.  The  losses  are  pretty 
generally  given,  but  the  numbers  engaged  are  frequently 
omitted  entirely,  or  only  estimated.  After  a  study  of  the 
whole  matter,  I  have  concluded  that  Rosecrans  had  56,000 
and  Bragg  65,000  engaged,  or  in  that  proportion. 

In  volume  29,  part  2,  page  721  of  the  "  Rebellion 
Record,"  as  published  by  the  War  Department,  General 
Lee  writes  Jefferson  Davis  stating  the  forces  available  to 
Bragg  on  August  2oth,  a  month  before  the  battle,  and  he 
made  it  over  76,000,  outside  of  those  Longstreet  took  him. 


CHICKAMAUGA  l6/ 

Bragg's  own  report  at  that  time  (August  2oth),  added  to  the 
known  number  of  the  different  reinforcements  at  the  time  of 
battle  would  make  a  force  present  of  about  83,000,  but 
these  were  not  all  fighting  men.  The  figures  I  give  above 
are  not  far  from  correct.  The  troops  on  the  rebel  side  were 
from  every  Confederate  state,  and  Kentucky.  Those  of  the 
Union  side  were  mostly  from  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Indiana ;  a 
few  regiments  of  Kentucky,  Wisconsin,  Michigan  and 
Pennsylvania,  two  from  Minnesota,  one  from  Kansas,  and 
one  or  two  from  Missouri.  It  is  singular  that  there  was  not 
an  Iowa  regiment  in  the  battle. 

The  rebels  had  forty-eight  batteries,  the  Union  army, 
thirty-six;  the  rebels  thirty-four  regiments  of  cavalry,  the 
Union  army,  eighteen.  In  a  battle  like  this  the  infantry  do 
the  real  fighting — but  Forrest  dismounted  his  cavalry,  and 
fought  as  infantry.  I  do  not  know  of  any  Union  cavalry 
doing  this  in  this  battle  except  Wilder's  mounted  infantry 
— and  of  this  arm,  the  rebels  had  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  regiments,  the  Union  army,  one  hundred  and  thirty. 
The  Union  army  lost  one  hundred  and  forty  officers  killed, 
and  six  hundred  and  nine  wounded  ;  the  rebel  army  lost  a 
much  greater  number,  but  no  tables  are  given.  The  Union 
artillery  had  five  hundred  and  fifty  horses  killed.  Battery 
H,  fifth  United  States  Artillery,  of  Baird's  division,  lost 
more  men  killed  and  wounded  than  any  other  battery  in  the 
Union  army.  Of  the  prisoners  captured  by  the  Union 
army,  the  Fourteenth  Corps  captured  more  than  half. 

General  H.  V.  Boynton,  who  commanded  the  Thirty- 
fifth  Ohio  Infantry  in  Brannan's  division,  and  wrote  most 


1 68  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

intelligently  about  this  and  other  battles,  after  critical  study  of 
them  said : 

"In  percentage  of  loss  and  for  the  time  of  fighting,  there 
are  no  battle  records  which  equal  it  from,  and  including  the 
days  of  the  first  Napoleon.  It  was  for  both  sides,  as  the 
figures  of  strength  and  losses  show,  the  best  illustration  of 
the  pluck,  the  endurance,  and  the  stubborn,  dogged  courage 
of  American  soldiers,  which  the  war  produced." 

As  to  the  personnel  of  the  general  officers  on  both  sides, 
it  is  interesting  to  study  them  as  they  were  known,  not  only 
before  and  at  the  time  of  the  battle,  but  as  some  of  them  are 
known  since. 

On  the  rebel  side,  General  J.  C.  Breckinridge  had  been 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  before  the  war,  at  the 
time  Buchanan  was  president.  I  think  it  was  fortunate  for 
us  that  Breckinridge  happened  to  be  the  division  com- 
mander who  outflanked  our  left ;  also  that  General  Leonidas 
Polk  commanded  that  wing,  and  not  Longstreet.  Had  our 
unprotected  left  flank  been  attacked  with  the  vigor  that  our 
right  was,  it  might  have  been  disastrous.  Cleburne  hap- 
pened to  strike  our  breastworks  fairly  with  his  whole  division, 
but  had  he  been  placed  where  Breckinridge  was,  and  found 
that  more  than  two  brigades  could  swing  around  on  unpro- 
tected ground  into  our  rear,  he  would  certainly,  judging 
from  his  reputation  as  a  soldier,  have  given  us  more  trouble 
than  Breckinridge  did.  This  would  have  been  especially 
so,  had  Longstreet  been  on  that  wing.  With  Walker's 
corps  and  Cheatham's  division  in  reserve  to  follow  up  the 
movement,  a  real  soldier  like  Longstreet,  would  not  have 
made  such  feeble  efforts,  or  rather  so  infrequent  effort,  as 


CHICKAMAUGA  169 

Polk  did.  None  of  them  could  have  taken  the  works  by 
direct  assault,  as  Cleburne  clearly  proved,  but  when  wing 
commander  Polk,  Breckinridge,  Walker  and  Cheatham,  with 
Forrest's  two  brigades  of  dismounted  cavalry  on  the  right  as 
a  protection,  found  that  they  so  far  outflanked  us,  it  seems 
to  me  they  should  have  made  more  out  of  the  situation  than 
they  did.  General  Thomas  showed  his  master  hand  in  the 
way  he  defended  this  flank  with  the  small  force  he  had 
available  for  that  purpose. 

I  am  also  surprised  that  D.  H.  Hill,  who  commanded  the 
two  divisions  of  Breckinridge  and  Cleburne  was  so  little  in 
evidence  in  the  fight.  But  Polk  is  the  one  who  is  really  re- 
sponsible. He  did  not  have  proper  control  of  his  separate 
divisions  and  did  not  get  them  to  effectively  cooperate.  It 
is  a  singular  coincidence  that  the  right  wings  of  both  the 
rebel  and  Union  armies  were  feebly  handled  as  a  whole, 
while  the  left  wings  were  so  ably  maneuvred. 

Cleburne  had  in  his  division,  a  colonel  from  Texas,  who 
upon  the  death  of  General  Deshler,  succeeded  to  the  com- 
mand of  a  brigade,  who  after  the  war  became  a  very  prom- 
inent democratic  United  States  senator,  Roger  Q.  Mills. 
An  ex-United  States  senator  from  Mississippi,  E.  C.  Wal- 
thall  commanded  a  brigade,  as  also  Senator  Colquitt  of 
Georgia.  Helm,  who  was  killed  on  the  left  early  on  Sun- 
day, was  a  relative  of  Mrs.  President  Lincoln's. 

Lord  Wolsely  says  of  General  Forrest,  that  he  proved  to 
be  the  best  cavalry  commander  on  either  side.  A  colonel, 
Randall  L.  Gibson  from  Louisiana,  afterwards  became  a 
prominent  United  States  senator.  Singularly  enough,  all 


I/O  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

these  fought  on  the  right  under  Bishop  Leonidas  Polk 
against  the  impregnable  left  of  General  Thomas.  Hood, 
who  lost  a  leg  in  front  of  the  Union  right,  afterwards  suc- 
ceeded to  the  command  of  this  rebel  army  and  was  badly 
defeated  at  Nashville  in  December,  1864,  by  General 
Thomas.  Longstreet  came  fresh  from  the  army  of  Virginia. 
He  was  a  fine  officer  of  high  standing.  His  report  of  the 
battle  is  a  model  for  fulness  and  lucidity.  He  gives  his 
strength  and  losses  in  detail.  On  the  other  hand,  Folk's  re- 
port contains  no  statistics  and  gives  no  information  worth 
knowing. 

The  commander  of  a  rebel  division  was  States  Rights 
Gist.  A  man  with  that  name  was  almost  compelled  by 
reason  of  it  to  fight  against  the  Union  or  his  given  name 
would  be  destroyed.  B.  R.  Johnson  commanded  a  division 
on  the  rebel  side,  and  R.  W.  Johnson  on  the  Union  side. 
S.  A.  M.  Wood  commanded  a  brigade  on  the  rebel  side, 
and  T.  J.  Wood  a  division  on  the  Union  side. 

As  a  specimen  of  flowery  rhetoric,  I  give  an  extract  from 
a  rebel  report.  He  closes  as  follows : 

"  While  I  recount  the  services  of  the  living,  I  cannot  pass 
unremembered  the  heroic  dead ;  the  cypress  must  be  inter- 
woven with  the  laurel.  The  bloody  field  attested  the  sacri- 
fice of  many  a  noble  spirit  in  the  fierce  struggle,  the  private 
soldier  vying  with  the  officer  in  deeds  of  high  daring  and 
distinguished  courage.  While  the  'River  of  Death"  shall 
float  its  sluggish  current  to  the  beautiful  Tennessee,  and  the 
night  wind  chant  its  solemn  dirges  over  their  soldier  graves, 
their  names  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  their  countrymen  will 
be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  as  the  champions  and  defend- 
ers of  their  country,  who  sealed  their  devotion  with  their  blood 
in  one  of  the  most  glorious  battle-fields  of  our  revolution." 


CHICKAMAUGA  17! 

This  officer  after  the  war,  was  a  United  States  senator 
from  Tennessee,  Wm.  B.  Bate. 

A.  P.  Stewart,  who  commanded  a  fine  division  of  three 
brigades  (eighteen  regiments  and  four  batteries)  and  also 
fought  opposite  Reynolds'  and  Palmer's  divisions  on  Sun- 
day, lost  2,010  killed  and  wounded.  He  closes  his  report 
by  saying : 

"  Greatly  outnumbered,  as  we  were  by  a  skilled  and  deter- 
mined foe,  our  own  strong  arms  and  stout  hearts  would 
never  have  secured  us  the  victory  without  the  Divine  favor. 
Let  all  praise  be  ascribed  to  His  holy  name." 

Rosecrans  expressed  his  thanks  to  God  for  our  preserva- 
tion. Was  the  God  of  Battle  protecting  both  sides  ? 

On  the  Union  side,  General  James  A.  Garfield  was  chief 
of  staff  of  the  army.  He  went  from  this  field  to  the  halls 
of  Congress,  having  been  elected  in  Ohio  at  about  this  time, 
and  afterwards  became  President  of  the  United  States.  He 
is  too  well  known  to  have  any  comment  here. 

General  John  M.  Palmer,  who  commanded  one  of  the 
staying  divisions,  became  Governor  and  a  senator  from 
Illinois,  and  once  was  candidate  for  President,  by  a  wing  of 
the  democratic  party. 

Brigadier-General  William  H.  Lytle  of  Ohio,  the  only 
general  officer  killed  on  the  Union  side,  was  a  poet  as  well 
as  a  fighter.  He  is  the  author  of  the  celebrated  poem, 
"Anthony  and  Cleopatra,"  commencing,  "I  am  dying, 
Egypt,  dying,"  but  he  did  not  write  it  on  the  night  before 
the  battle  as  many  newspapers  and  lecturers  have  stated 
since  the  war. 


ECHOES    OF    THE   CIVIL   WAR 

General  W.  B.  Hazen  who  commanded  a  Union  brigade, 
in  his  book,  entitled,  "Narrative  of  Military  Service,"  says, 
"  In  carefully  studying  the  battle,  one  cannot  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed with  the  most  worthy  and  heroic  service  of  two 
division  commanders,  who  stand  out  conspicuously  from  all 
the  rest,  Bran  nan  and  Baird." 

The  late  editor  of  the  New  York  Sun,  Charles  A.  Dana, 
was  then  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  and  was  present  at 
Rosecrans'  headquarters.  He  was  caught  in  the  break  of 
the  Union  right  at  noon  on  Sunday,  and  driven  back  to 
Rossville  and  Chattanooga.  Some  specimens  of  his  dis- 
patches to  the  war  department  at  Washington  make  racy 
reading.  He  thought  the  whole  army  was  being  driven  and 
the  first  dispatch  at  4  p.  M.  on  the  2oth  was  doleful  in  the 
extreme.  He  compared  the  rout  to  the  first  Bull  Run.  His 
next  dispatch  at  8  p.  M.,  on  the  2oth,  put  a  different  phase 
on  it.  The  next  day  he  telegraphed  the  department  a  long 
dispatch,  telling  how  Thomas  held  the  enemy  at  bay  all  the 
afternoon  of  Sunday,  with  his  decimated  divisions.  He 
says: 

"  Falling  first  on  one  and  then  on  another  point  of  our 
lines,  for  hours  the  rebels  vainly  sought  to  break  them. 
Thomas  seemed  to  have  filled  every  soldier  with  his  own 
unconquerable  firmness,  and  Granger,  his  hat  torn  by 
bullets,  raged  like  a  lion  wherever  the  combat  was  hottest, 
with  the  electrical  courage  of  a  Ney.  .  .  .  Army 
brigade  commanders,  Turchin,  Hazen  and  Harker  espe- 
cially distinguished  themselves." 

It  seems  the  Secretary  of  War  could  not  distinguish  cer- 
tain words  in  this  dispatch,  dated  September  zist,  and 


CHICKAMAUGA  1/3 

solemnly  telegraphed  back  to  Dana,  to  repeat  them.  Dana 
replied  with  great  care,  as  if  the  fate  of  the  army  depended 
on  it,  as  follows  : 

"  Chattanooga,  September  24th,  12  M. 

"Words  telegram  2ist  you  desire  repeated  are:  'With 
the  electrical  courage  of  a  Ney.'  My  cipher  clerk,  myself, 
shall  be  more  careful. 

"C.  A.  DANA." 

His  dispatches  both  before  and  after  the  battle  are  marked 
by  the  same  characteristics  as  his  newspaper,  the  New  York 
Sun,  afterwards  was.  They  are  full  of  vituperation,  praise 
when  due,  and  racy  observations.  In  a  dispatch  of  the 
23d  of  September,  from  Chattanooga,  he  gives  the  following 
cause  of  the  disaster  to  the  right  wing  on  Sunday  noon  : 

"First,  great  numerical  superiority  of  the  enemy. 
Second,  the  too  great  extent  and  consequent  thinness  of  our 
line.  Before  the  battle  Rosecrans  evidently  saw  that  his 
line  was  too  long,  and  then  attempted  to  shorten  it.  Third, 
and  in  its  results  the  most  fatal  of  all,  the  disobedience  of 
orders  of  General  McCook  in  placing  his  corps  from  one- 
third  to  one-half  a  mile  farther  to  the  right  than  he  had  been 
directed  to  do,  thus  elongating  the  line  still  farther. 
Fourth,  the  attempt  of  Rosecrans  to  reinforce  the  left  wing 
when  Thomas  reported  it  had  been  forced  back.  In  this 
attempt,  he  necessarily  had  to  move  troops  from  the  right, 
the  whole  reserve  being  already  engaged." 

He  goes  on  in  this  dispatch  to  say  that  Davis  and  Sher- 
idan were  moving  by  the  flank  when  attacked  and  could  not 
rally  their  men  on  the  field  of  action.  That,  "it  is  plain 
that  he  (Rosecrans)  having  committed  an  error  in  too  much 


ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

extending  his  line  originally,  he  committed  another  and 
more  pregnant  error  in  the  manner  of  contracting  it  which 
he  adopted." 

In  one  dispatch,  in  speaking  of  Rosecrans,  he  says: 
"The  defects  of  his  character  complicate  the  difficulty. 
He  abounds  in  friendship  and  approbativeness,  and  is 
greatly  lacking  in  firmness  and  steadiness  of  will.  .  .  . 
Besides  there  is  a  more  serious  obstacle  to  his  acting  deci- 
sively, in  the  fact  that  if  Crittenden  and  McCook  fled  to 
Chattanooga  with  the  sound  of  artillery  in  their  ears  from 
that  glorious  field  when  Thomas  and  Grnnger  were  saving 
their  army  and  their  country's  honor,  he  fled  also ;  and  al- 
though it  may  be  said  in  his  excuse,  that  under  the  circum- 
stances, it  was  proper  for  the  commanding  general  to  go  to 
his  base  of  operations,  while  the  corps  commanders  ought  to 
remain  with  their  troops,  still  he  feels  that  that  excuse  can- 
not entirely  clear  him,  either  in  his  own  eyes  or  in  those  of 
the  army." 

The  study  of  this  battle  through  the  official  reports  and 
the  most  excellent  maps  that  have  been  made  since  the  war 
was  most  fascinating,  much  more  so  than  a  study  of  it  on 
the  field  itself  under  the  fire  and  repeated  assaults  of  Breck- 
inridge's,  Cleburne's  and  other  rebel  divisions  on  the  Union 
left. 

This  historic  and  greatest  battle-field  of  the  west  has  been 
made  into  a  National  Park  under  an  act  of  Congress.  The 
lines  of  the  two  opposing  armies  are  designated  by  monu- 
ments to  the  regiments,  erected  by  the  several  states  whose 
troops  fought  on  one  or  the  other  side.  The  field  is  almost 
in  the  natural  condition  in  which  it  was  at  the  time  of  the  bat- 
tle. The  few  farms  then  existing  were  generally  small,  and 
the  farmhouses  were  inferior  and  built  of  logs.  But  one  new 


CHICKAMAUGA  175 

house  has  been  built  on  the  field  and  that  is  a  small  frame 
near  where  Kelly's  log  house  had  stood.  It  was  a  primitive 
region,  and  the  park  commissioners  have  so  treated  it  as  to 
preserve  those  natural  features  and  leave  it  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible as  it  was  in  1863.  The  old  roads  have  been  made 
better  and  those  that  were  closed,  reopened.  The  new 
growth  of  timber  has  been  cut  down.  Every  spot  occupied 
by  troops  during  the  two  days'  fighting  is  marked  by  a  tablet 
or  by  an  elaborate  monument.  Actual  pieces  of  artillery 
have  been  placed  where  batteries  stood  in  the  battle.  The 
southern  states  have  entered  heartily  into  the  matter,  and 
General  Stewart,  who  commanded  a  rebel  division  in  the 
battle,  has  been  a  member  of  the  commission  from  the  first. 
An  object  lesson  on  a  grand  scale  is  thus  given  to  this  and 
coming  generations. 

It  has  been  considered  that  the  highest  form  of  patriotism 
is  the  defense  of  one's  country  on  the  field  of  battle  against 
a  foreign  foe.  But  he  who  would  learn  a  new  lesson  in  high 
patriotism  in  the  future  will  visit  this  illustrious  National 
Park  and  ponder  amidst  its  monuments  and  silent  woods, 
the  immortal  fame  of  those  who  were  brave  enough  and 
loved  their  country  enough  to  fight  and  conquer  their  own 
kindred,  whose  swords  were  drawn  against  the  flag  of  our 
common  country. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
AT  CHATTANOOGA 

Forming  the  lines  at  Rossville  on  September  aist — Next  day  the  divi- 
sion following  the  army  fell  back  to  Chattanooga — The  rebel 
army  slowly  followed  and  formed  lines  on  Lookout,  in  the  valley 
and  along  the  crest  of  Missionary  Ridge — Some  reflections  on  the 
year  following  the  battle  of  Perryville — General  Rousseau  as- 
signed to  the  post  at  Nashville  and  General  R.  W.  Johnson  to  the 
command  of  our  division — The  battles  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Or- 
chard Knob  and  Missionary  Ridge,  fought — The  rebels  routed 
and  followed  to  Taylor's  Ridge — Before  the  battles,  Hooker  with 
two  corps,  the  eleventh  and  twelfth,  from  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, and  Sherman  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  joined  us — 
Grant  had  command  of  all  the  forces — Grant,  Thomas,  Sherman, 
Sheridan,  Hooker  and  Howard,  all  present — The  author  re- 
lieved of  staff  duty  at  his  own  request — Returned  to  the  com- 
mand of  his  regiment  then  stationed  on  Lookout  Mountain — The 
geniality  of  General  R.  W.  Johnson — A  visit  to  the  battle-field  of 
Chickamauga — Some  descriptions  of  Lookout  Mountain — The  re- 
cruits of  the  Twenty- First. 

THAT  part  of  the  army  that  remained  on  the  field  of  Chick- 
amauga with  General  Thomas  until  the  evening  of  Septem- 
ber 20,  1863,  fell  back  to  Rossville  that  night.  The  next 
morning  a  new  line  was  formed  across  the  hills  covering  the 
gap.  General  Baird  asked  me  to  form  the  division.  I  do 
not  remember  the  hour  I  commenced  to  execute  the  order, 
but  it  was  in  the  morning.  I  did  not  know  then  how  badly 
the  rebel  army  was  used  up  and  as  our  division  was  to  oc- 
cupy a  line  that  appeared  to  be  the  key  to  the  position 
straddling  the  road  running  through  the  gap,  I  was  intensely 

176 


CHATTANOOGA — LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN — MISSIONARY  RIDGE. 
By  Courtesy  of  General  H.  V.  Boynton. 

Echoes  of  the   Civil  War. 


AT  CHATTANOOGA 

anxious  to  get  the  division  into  position  as  soon  as  possible. 
My  mind  was  completely  absorbed  in  the  work.  A  great 
deal  of  riding  had  to  be  done.  The  division  had  not 
camped  together  the  night  before,  and  was  very  much 
scattered.  When  the  line  was  finally  formed,  I  said  to  my- 
self, "  It  must  now  be  about  ten  o'clock  A.  M."  I  looked  at 
my  watch.  It  was  3  P.  M.  When  the  thoughts  are  so 
completely  concentrated  on  a  single  object,  one  takes  no  ac- 
count of  time.  What  is  called  time,  is  merely  a  subjective 
condition.  Objectively,  there  is  no  time.  In  the  workings 
of  the  forces  of  nature,  time,  as  man  has  it  artificially  ar- 
ranged, is  not  an  element. 

We  remained  in  line  at  Rossville  until  the  morning  of  the 
22d.  At  the  time  I  was  placing  the  first  division  in  battle 
line,  on  the  morning  of  the  2ist,  I  was  unaware  that  other 
troops  were  in  line  in  front  of  us.  I  think  they  were  some  of 
the  twentieth  corps,  and  perhaps  some  of  Negley's  who  had  re- 
treated from  the  field  about  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.  on  the  2oth. 
But  we  were  the  last  troops  to  leave  the  line  at  Rossville  be- 
fore daylight  on  the  22d.  We  arrived  at  Chattanooga  dur- 
ing that  day.  We  had  not  been  attacked  since  leaving  Chick- 
amauga  on  the  evening  of  the  2oth.  The  rebel  army  was 
very  slow  in  following  us  to  Chattanooga.  They  occupied 
the  line  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain  when 
they  did  come  up,  but  did  not  attack  us  at  all.  They  threw 
up  lines  of  earthworks  and  awaited  an  attack  from  us.  This 
was  not  made  until  November  25th,  after  Grant  had  been 
sent  to  us.  It  was  perhaps  a  mistake  that  Rosecrans  did 
not  undertake  to  hold  Lookout  Mountain.  It  is  possible 


ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

that  he  could  not  with  the  forces  at  his  command.  The 
rebel  occupation  of  Lookout  gave  them  the  control  of  the 
river  and  the  river  road  to  our  base  of  supplies  at  Stevenson 
and  Bridgeport.  This  came  very  nearly  forcing  us  to  fall 
back  from  Chattanooga. 

"  Chattanooga,  September  24,  1863. 
"Artillery  firing  at  long  range  is  kept  up  during  the  day, 
but  no  particular  damage  done." 

"  September  27th. 

"We  are  almost  impregnable  here  but  the  lines  of 
communication  to  the  rear  may  be  cut.  Have  no  fears 
for  the  future;  we  have  but  to  mourn  the  past."  (How 
true  this  was.  The  western  rebel  army  never  forced  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  to  retreat  again.)  "We  are 
going  to  hold  Chattanooga  at  all  hazards.  So  all  the  re- 
ports that  our  army  is  destroyed  or  will  have  to  retreat  far- 
ther than  this  place  are  unfounded.  We  injured  the  enemy 
more  than  he  did  us.  ...  Evidently  they  are  in  no 
condition  to  attack  us,  for  they  lie  within  three  miles,  and 
their  pickets  are  within  three  hundred  yards  of  ours.  My 
horse  received  a  little  scratch  on  the  foot.  The  little  chest- 
nut horse  was  lost  by  my  servant  when  I  drove  him  off  the 
field."  (I  afterwards  recovered  this  horse  at  Chattanooga.) 
"  The  want  of  sleep  and  sustenance  and  the  excessive  dust 
put  me  into  a  half  comatose  state.  But  I  am  now  '  caught 
up  '  and  feel  remarkably  well.  I  go  out  to  the  picket  line 
occasionally  and  get  shot  at  merely  to  keep  up  a  healthy 
state  of  the  system  and  a  proper  realization  of  our  situation. 
This  is  Sunday.  A  church  bell  rang  this  morning  and 
everything  looks  pleasant  and  peaceful.  Yet  this  is  a  miser- 
able town.  The  inhabitants  have  nearly  all  gone." 

"October  8,  1863. 

"  One  year  ago  to-day,  the  battle  of  Perryville  was 
fought.  What  a  strange  year  has  passed  since  then  !  Poor 
Colonel  Sweet,  who  was  wounded  at  that  time,  and  was  on 
duty  so  long  at  Gallatin,  Tennessee,  was  transferred  to  the 


AT   CHATTANOOGA  179 

invalid  corps  about  a  month  ago.  He  is  now  on  duty  in 
Philadelphia,  no  longer  colonel  of  the  twenty-first.  The 
major  was  killed  on  the  field,  and  Surgeon  Carolin  died  a 
month  after.  In  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  the  lieutenant- 
colonel  commanding  and  Adjutant-Lieutenant  Jenkins  were 
taken  prisoners.  The  regiment  is  now  commanded  by  a 
captain,  who  was  the  junior  captain  when  we  left  the  state, 
but  is  now  the  senior.  I  sometimes  think  of  asking  to  go 
back  and  take  command  of  the  regiment,  but  they  muster 
only  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  muskets — a  captain's 
command.  .  .  .  We  have  a  line  of  works  about  three 
miles  long  extending  around  the  south  side  of  the  town, 
from  the  river  bank  on  the  west.  In  that  line  are  two  forts 
which  the  rebels  had  begun  to  build,  but  which  we 
finished." 

"October  22,  1863. 

"  It  is  very  likely  some  fine  morning,  this  army  will  wake 
up  to  find  the  commissary  exhausted,  and  all  the  trains 
stuck  in  the  mud  between  here  and  Stevenson,  the  nearest 
depot.  But  then  we  can  live  a  long  time  on  the  horses  and 
mules,  together  with  white-oak  bark.  I  sent  one  of  my 
horses  back  to  Stevenson  to  subsist  him  while  the  little 
chestnut  is  living  here  on  dead  grass  and  wagon  wheels.  I 
take  him  out  on  the  picket  line  every  day  to  let  him  have 
a  whiff  of  the  rebel  army,  merely  to  keep  him  well  aware 
of  the  great  cause  which  requires  so  great  a  sacrifice  of  corn 
and  oats  on  his  part.  He  seems  perfectly  satisfied  and  grabs 
at  every  shrub  within  reach.  Noble  old  Thomas  is  in  com- 
mand of  our  army,  and  everything  is  just  as  quiet  as  if  noth- 
ing had  happened.  Rosecrans,  McCook,  Crittenden  and 
Negley  have  gone.  I  did  not  see  any  of  them  on  the  field 
of  battle  and  don't  know  how  they  acted,  but  being  in 
Thomas'  corps,  I  had  occasion  to  be  several  times  with  that 
cool  old  general.  On  Sunday  evening  during  the  retreat,  I 
was  the  only  staff  officer  with  General  Baird.  We  came 
upon  General  Thomas  in  a  little  ravine,  but  a  very  short  dis- 
tance to  the  rear.  After  talking  awhile,  he  very  coolly  dis- 
mounted and  told  his  escort  to  feed  their  horses  in  the  corn- 
field. The  rest  of  us  were  expecting  the  rebs  on  us  every 
minute,  and  some  one  suggested  to  the  general  that  they 


ISO  ECHOES   OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

might  come  over  the  hill.  He  merely  shook  his  head  say- 
ing, '  They  can't.'  We  all  felt  perfectly  safe  at  once  and  I 
took  out  some  eatables  my  darky  had  given  me  in  the  morn- 
ing and  divided  with  the  general.  He  ate  them,  as  uncon- 
cernedly as  if  they  were  not  worth  their  weight  in  gold.  But 
as  a  staff  officer  said  to  me  afterwards  in  reference  to  the  cool- 
ness of  dismounting  in  that  spot,  '  I  could  have  taken  off 
my  shirt  and  given  it  to  the  old  general  if  it  would  have 
gratified  him  any.  He  seemed  to  perfectly  understand 
everything  ;  knew  just  what  to  do,  and  never  became  the 
least  excited.'  It  thus  happened  that  in  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga,  I  not  only  rode  on  the  field  with  General 
Thomas,  but  rode  off  the  field  with  him." 

"Chattanooga,  November  22,  '6j. 

"General  R.  W.  Johnson  is  in  command  of  this  division 
and  is  trying  to  procure  the  service  of  his  old  staff.  I  don't 
think  he  can  succeed,  for  reasons  that  only  a  military  person 
would  understand,  but  if  he  succeed,  then  I  will  very  cheer- 
fully go  back  to  my  little  regiment  and  command  it  until 
the  lieutenant-colonel  is  exchanged.  I  would  very  quickly 
have  asked  to  be  relieved  some  time  ago,  could  I  have  the 
permanent  command  of  my  regiment,  for  that  is  nobler  than 
any  staff  position  in  the  world.  Situated  as  I  am,  it  is 
pleasanter  on  the  staff. 

"  General  Rousseau  has  assumed  command  at  Nashville. 
I  rode  with  him  to  Hooker's  position  on  his  way  thither, 
and  during  the  very  social  conversation  we  had  on  the  way, 
he  said  that  though  he  could  not  take  me  with  him,  not  be- 
ing allowed  to  take  detached  officers  away  from  their  divi- 
sions, he  had  spoken  a  kind  word  in  my  behalf  at  head- 
quarters. I  felt  gratified  for  his  remembrance  but  smiled  (in 
my  sleeve)  at  his  idea  that  it  would  ever  do  me  any  good. 
He  was  not  in  favor  at  headquarters.  I  was  sorry  to  see 
the  brave  and  gallant  general,  the  Murat  of  the  army,  go 
thus  away  from  the  old  division,  that  fought  under  him  so 
eagerly  at  Perryville,  Stone  River,  and  part  of  it  at  Shiloh. 
A  junior  major-general  was  placed  over  him  in  command 
of  the  corps.  He  felt  it  a  reflection  upon  his  ability  as  a 
military  commander.  He  was  therefore  transferred. 

"  To-morrow's  dawn  will  usher  in  (if  rumor  is  to  be  be- 


AT    CHATTANOOGA  l8l 

lieved)  blood  and  carnage.  The  eleventh  corps  has  been 
passing  through  town  this  evening,  and  taking  up  position 
on  our  left,  and  Sherman  is  passing  on  the  other  side  to 
cross  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  to  strike  him  in  the  rear. 
So  a  battle  is  imminent." 

Dana  in  his  dispatches  to  the  Secretary  of  War  said  that 
Rousseau  aspired  to  the  command  of  a  corps  and  that  every- 
body laughed.  Sherman  did  not  get  in  the  rear  of  the 
enemy.  He  assaulted  but  made  no  impression.  Thomas' 
army  did  the  successful  assaulting  in  the  battle  of  Missionary 
Ridge.  General  A.  Baird,  who  commanded  us  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Chickamauga,  was  assigned  to  Brannan's  old  division. 

"  November  2Qth, — Sunday. 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  Ringold,  eighteen  miles 
southeast  from  here,  to  which  point  we  pursued  the  fleeing 
columns  of  the  enemy.  Our  division,  General  R.  W.  John- 
son, commanding,  struck  the  rear  of  their  column,  twice 
after  leaving  Missionary  Ridge  on  the  morning  of  the  26th. 
We  made  a  charge  by  moonlight  and  took  a  South  Carolina 
battery  and  several  officers  and  men.  Friday,  we  came  up 
to  them  at  Ringold,  but  Hooker  had  arrived  before  us  and 
attacked  a  force  of  them  posted  on  top  of  Taylor's  Ridge. 
Hooker's  men  charged  up  a  very  steep  place  under  a  tre- 
mendous fire  and  carried  the  position,  but  lost  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  men  killed  and  wounded.  We  have  had 
from  the  beginning  of  the  battle  last  Monday,  November 
25th,  a  series  of  the  most  brilliant  successes.  Missionary 
Ridge  was  carried  by  assault,  though  in  places  it  was  in- 
credibly steep,  and  fortified  by  several  lines  of  trenches.  I 
never  before  saw  our  men  do  so  well,  nor  the  rebels  so  badly. 
Lookout  Mountain  seemed  impregnable,  but  Hooker  came 
over  the  lower  slope  under  the  crest  with  banners  flying, 
while  our  division  who  had  stood  in  line  of  battle,  listening 
to  the  heavy  musketry  firing  of  Hooker's  troops  before  they 
appeared  in  sight,  saw  the  flying  Rebel  line  first  appear  in 
retreat,  then  the  boys  of  the  Potomac  rapidly  following,  all 


1 82  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

above  the  heavy  fog  which  had  settled  below  the  crest  of  the 
mountain  as  the  day  advanced.  It  was  a  great  sight.  But 
the  taking  of  Missionary  Ridge  the  next  day  was  grander. 
At  the  foot  of  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  Chattanooga  side  is 
a  stream  that  prevented  our  men  from  crossing  while  the 
enemy  occupied  the  opposite  bank.  But  when  the  rebel 
line  appeared,  at  my  suggestion,  a  battery  was  rapidly  sent 
to  a  point  close  enough  to  enfilade  them  as  they  fell  back. 
When  they  had  passed  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  one 
brigade,  General  Carlin's  was  taken  over  in  a  boat.  They 
formed  on  the  left  of  Hooker's  line.  The  next  morning 
Lookout  was  found  completely  abandoned  by  the  rebels." 

"  December  141)1. 

"  I  was  out  on  the  Chickamauga  battle-field  a  few  days 
ago  in  the  escort  of  Grant  and  Thomas.  I  saw  six  or  seven 
skeletons  of  our  brave  boys  unburied.  They  were  in  a  very 
obscure  place  in  the  woods  where  the  battle  first  opened  on 
our  front  on  the  morning  of  the  ipth.  General  Thomas  cut 
a  hickory  cane  close  by  them,  and  so  did  I.  I  was  just 
wondering  how  much  it  would  bring  in  the  great  Sanitary 
Fair,  as  a  relic  from  the  battle-field?  " 

"  December  2Oth. 

"  It  is  clear  and  cold  here.  Wood  and  overcoats  are  in 
requisition.  Christmas  will  soon  be  here.  We  know  it  only 
in  name.  I  remember  Christmas  of  last  year.  We  were  all 
packed  for  the  march  to  the  battle  of  Stone  River.  On  New 
Year's  we  were  in  the  battle.  July  4th,  we  were  near  the 
enemy  at  Tullahoma.  Thanksgiving  we  fought  at  Ringold. 
So  it  would  seem  in  keeping  if  we  fought  on  this  Christmas. 
But  I  think  we  will  not.  I  have  been  reading  in  the  'At- 
lantic '  Longfellow's  'Birds  of  Killingworth.'  How  pleas- 
ant and  beautiful  it  is  !  It  is  one  of  the  '  Stories  of  a  Way- 
side Inn '  just  published.  I  have  sent  for  a  copy.  Colo- 
nel Sweet  writes  me  some  glorious  letters  from  Chicago  where 
he  is  now  settled." 

This  spectacular  battle  of  Chattanooga  lasted  three  days  and 
includes  Orchard  Knob,  November  23(1 ;  Lookout  Mountain, 


AT    CHATTANOOGA  183 

November  24th;  and  Missionary  Ridge,  November  25th. 
There  were  two  notable  and  distinctive  features  about  this 
battle  that  are  worth  mentioning.  First, — The  presence  of 
so  many  prominent  generals  as  army,  corps,  and  division 
commanders.  Grant,  Thomas,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Hooker, 
and  Howard  were  there.  I  think  all  these  were  not  pres- 
ent at  the  same  time  on  any  other  battle-field.  Second, 
— From  the  city  of  Chattanooga,  which  is  the  centre  of  a 
semicircle  of  which  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  right  and 
Missionary  Ridge,  three  miles  away,  stretching  from  the 
front  around  to  the  extreme  left,  are  the  periphery,  could  be 
plainly  seen  with  the  naked  eye,  the  battle  above  the  clouds 
on  Lookout  on  the  24th,  and  the  next  day  the  magnificent 
panorama  of  four  divisions  charging  up  the  face  of  Mis- 
sionary Ridge  and  carrying  the  rebel  works  at  the  top. 
These  divisions  were  Johnson's  on  the  right,  Sheridan's, 
Wood's  and  Baird's  in  order  to  the  left.  General  Baird  had 
been  assigned  to  the  command  of  Brannan's  old  division. 
General  Brannan  was  chief  of  artillery. 

The  colossal  tactics  of  the  whole  three  days  were  exceed- 
ingly brilliant.  What  is  of  more  importance,  every  essen- 
tial movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  success- 
ful. A  correspondent,  writing  from  the  field  at  the  time 
said,  "  The  story  of  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  is  struck 
with  immortality  already  !  Did  ever  battle  have  so  vast  a 
crowd  of  witnesses  !  Fifty-eight  guns  a  minute  by  the 
watch." 

When  the  winter  was  drawing  to  a  close,  it  was  evident 
that  another  campaign  was  imminent.  In  February,  1864, 


1 84  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

I  asked  General  Johnson  to  relieve  me  so  that  I  could  take 
command  of  my  regiment  which  had  received  some  re- 
cruits and  had  also  grown  in  numbers  by  the  return  of 
absentees.  At  first  he  did  not  grant  my  request,  but  after 
some  urging,  I  received  the  following  order : 

"  Headquarters,  First  Division, 
11 1 '4th  Army  Corps,  Tyner' s  Station,  Tenn., 

"  February  29,  1864. 
"  GENERAL  ORDER, 

"No.  35. 

"Major  M.   H.  Fitch,   2ist  Regiment  Wisconsin  Vols., 
is  at  his  own  request  relieved  from  duty  as  division  inspector 
and  will  join  his  regiment  without  delay. 
"By  Command  of 

"BRIGADIER-GENERAL  JOHNSON. 
"E.  T.  WELLS,  Captain  8pth  111.  Infantry,  A.  A.  A.  G." 

Captain  E.  T.  Wells,  who  signed  this  order  was  wounded 
afterwards  at  Peach  Tree  Creek.  He  was  a  fine,  gallant 
officer  and  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  competent  ad- 
jutants-general in  the  army.  Since  the  war,  he  has  been 
located  in  Denver,  Colorado,  has  been  on  the  district  court 
bench,  and  is  one  of  the  leading  lawyers. 

The  regiment  was  then  encamped  on  top  of  Lookout 
Mountain.  I  immediately  assumed  command,  relieving 
Captain  R.  J.  Weisbrod.  Captain  Walker,  the  senior 
captain,  was  absent  on  recruiting  service. 

My  staff  service  had  lasted  nine  months  and  was  pleasant 
in  every  way.  In  that  time  the  division  had  three  com- 
manders, Rousseau,  who  commanded  it  at  Hoover's  Gap 
and  on  the  Tullahoma  campaign  ;  General  Absalom  Baird 
at  Dug  Gap  and  in  the  great  battle  of  Chickamauga ;  and 


AT    CHATTANOOGA  185 

General  Johnson  at  Missionary  Ridge.  This  staff  service 
did  not  entirely  separate  me  from  the  Twenty-first  Wis- 
consin. It  remained  a  part  of  the  division  for  the  whole 
time  and  I  saw  it  frequently.  When  I  first  saw  it  after  the 
battle  of  Chickamauga,  it  numbered  only  seventy,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Walker. 

Starkweather's  brigade  at  Chickamauga  had  lost  more  in 
killed  and  wounded  than  any  other  brigade  of  the  division. 
In  the  advance  on  Missionary  Ridge,  November  25th,  it 
was  assigned  to  the  reserve  and  remained  in  the  works 
which  had  to  be  manned  and  held  during  the  battle.  So 
that  by  being  on  the  staff  at  that  time,  I  was  enabled  to  take 
part  in  the  assault.  I  rode  up  the  ridge  with  the  extreme 
right  of  Carlin's  brigade  urging  the  troops  forward,  when 
they  were  outflanked  by  the  enemy  and  had  received  a  tem- 
porary repulse.  Our  advance  was  greatly  assisted  by  Os- 
terhaus'  division  of  the  fifteenth  corps,  coming  from  Look- 
out Mountain  and  at  the  time  was  ascending  the  ridge  from 
Rossville.  The  enemy  fell  an  easy  prey  by  means  of  this, 
to  us  and  our  division.  We  captured  over  a  thousand  pris- 
oners. When  we  gained  the  top  of  the  ridge,  I  witnessed 
the  disorganized  rout  of  rebels  on  the  opposite  slope.  It 
was  wonderful,  considering  the  strength  of  the  rebel  position. 

When  the  pursuit  was  abandoned  at  Taylor's  Ridge,  my 
duties  until  February  29,  1864,  were  of  a  much  pleasanter 
character.  I  daily  rode  the  picket  line,  inspected  the 
different  camps,  made  regular  reports,  and  held  the  most 
delightful  intercourse  at  our  own  headquarters  and  through- 
out the  army,  with  the  officers. 


1 86  ECHOES   OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

Headquarters  were  in  a  large  brick  house  on  a  hill.  Our 
mess,  consisting  of  Captains  Lew  Morris,  William  R.  Lowe 
and  myself,  occupied  a  large  room  on  the  second  floor. 
Almost  every  evening,  other  officers,  generally  of  the  regular 
brigade,  came  in  and  had  a  social  chat  or  a  game  of  cards. 
General  Richard  W.  Johnson  was  a  frequent  visitor  and  no 
one  was  more  genial.  He  was  a  very  early  riser,  while 
Morris  and  Lowe,  and  especially  a  Lieutenant  Smith,  an 
A.  D.  C.,  were  usually  late  risers.  He  would  frequently 
open  our  door  early  in  the  morning  and  chaff  the  boys 
about  sleeping  so  late.  One  morning  he  found  us  all  up 
much  to  his  surprise,  and  turning  his  head  backwards  to  an 
imaginary  darky  in  the  hall,  he  said  loud  enough  for  us  all 
to  hear,  "  Sam,  take  that  club  away — I  won't  have  to  use 
it  this  morning."  One  morning  he  found  rne  up  and 
dressed,  while  the  others  were  yet  snoring  away.  He  said 
nothing  and  went  down-stairs.  Finding  his  breakfast  ready, 
he  sent  a  darky  boy  up  who  said,  "  Major,  de  general  sent 
his  compliments  and  invites  you  down  to  breakfast  wid 
him."  Thinking  that  he  merely  meant  this  in  pity  for  my 
loneliness  in  having  to  wait  for  my  own  breakfast  until  my 
comrades  should  arise,  I  said  to  the  boy,  "  Say  to  the 
general,  I  am  much  obliged,  but  we  will  have  breakfast 
before  long  ourselves."  Away  went  the  darky,  but  in  a 
moment  he  returned  and  opening  the  door  with  a  grin  on 
his  face  which  showed  all  his  white  teeth,  said,  "  De 
general  say  an  invitation  from  a  superior  officer  same's  a 
command,  sah."  So  I  was  very  glad  to  breakfast  with  the 
general.  Lieutenant  Lo\ye?  in  speaking  of  the  general's  dis- 


AT    CHATTANOOGA  l8/ 

position  to  rise  early,  said  he  was  too  old  to  sleep  much.  He 
was  only  about  thirty-five. 

Grant,  some  time  after  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
was  anxious  to  ride  over  the  battle-field  of  Chickamauga. 
So  one  morning  General  Johnson  said  to  me,  "I  am  going 
with  Generals  Grant  and  Thomas  over  the  Chickamauga 
battle-field  and  would  like  to  have  you  go  along."  I  was 
very  glad  to  accept.  We  rendezvoused  at  General  Thomas' 
headquarters,  and  rode  via  Rossville  and  through  the  gap, 
then  down  the  Lafayette  road.  This  route  brought  us  first 
to  the  left  of  our  lines  where  our  division  lay  on  that  mem- 
orable Sunday.  As  Grant  gazed  at  the  bullet  riddled  trees 
in  front  of  that  line,  the  only  remark  he  made  on  the  battle- 
field which  I  heard  was,  "  These  trees  would  make  a  good 
lead  mine." 

There  were  in  the  party,  General  Grant,  General  Thomas, 
General  R.  W.  Johnson  and  General  W.  F.  Smith,  known 
as  "  Baldy  Smith."  There  must  have  been  many  other 
general  officers  and  numerous  staff  officers,  but  these  are  all 
I  can  remember.  Grant  rode  his  cream-colored  horse  and 
Smith  kept  close  to  his  side.  Neither  had  on  any  sword, 
but  Smith  carried  a  common  stick  about  the  size  of  a  small 
cane.  As  we  crossed  a  creek  before  arriving  at  the  battle- 
field, the  horses  all  stopped  to  drink.  Grant  pulled  out  his 
match-box  and  lighted  a  cigar.  While  he  was  doing  this, 
his  horse  let  fly  with  his  hind  foot  at  Smith's  horse. 
Whereupon  Smith  hit  Grant's  horse  across  the  rump  with 
his  stick  and  at  the  same  time  made  some  familiar  remark 
to  Grant  about  riding  such  a  vicious  horse.  I  was  looking 


1 88  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

intently  at  Grant  at  the  time  and  was  struck  with  his  perfect 
stolid  indifference.  He  never  for  an  instant  changed  the 
position  of  his  hand  or  head  in  lighting  his  cigar,  nor  said  a 
word,  nor  did  he  seem  conscious  of  the  episode,  though  his 
horse  moved  up  suddenly.  I  thought  it  very  characteristic 
of  his  qualities  as  a  soldier. 

When  Grant  had  first  come  to  our  army  at  Chattanooga, 
General  Hunter  had  been  sent  on  from  the  east  by  the  War 
Department  to  inspect  and  report  on  the  condition  of  the 
army.  Grant  ordered  out  the  army  for  inspection,  and  rode 
the  lines  with  Hunter.  The  latter  was  mounted  on  Grant's 
cream-colored  horse,  and  was  in  full  dress.  Grant  was  on  a 
less  showy  horse  and  was  not  in  full  dress,  but  looked  rather 
inferior.  I  had  never  seen  Grant  before.  When  they  came 
near  our  division,  I  heard  Grant  say  to  Hunter,  "  Let  us 
ride  across  here,"  pointing  towards  us.  So  I  inquired  who 
that  little  brigade  general  was  that  seemed  to  be  accompany- 
ing Hunter,  and  they  told  me  it  was  Grant. 

At  Chattanooga,  prior  to  the  battle,  the  army  was 
reorganized.  The  twentieth  corps,  which  had  been  com- 
manded by  McCook,  and  the  twenty-first  corps  were  con- 
solidated and  called  the  fourth  corps.  Gordon  Granger  was 
assigned  to  command  it.  He  had  greatly  distinguished 
himself  at  Chickamauga  as  a  fighting  general.  Afterwards, 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  corps,  whom  Hooker  had  brought 
from  the  Potomac,  were  consolidated  into  a  new  twentieth 
corps  and  General  Oliver  O.  Howard  was  assigned  to  the 
fourth  corps  in  place  of  Granger,  who  was  relieved  by 
Grant,  for  not  moving  to  Knoxville  with  sufficient  celerity 


AT    CHATTANOOGA  189 

when  ordered.  Brigades  especially,  were  consolidated. 
The  regiments  had  become  small  and  six  or  eight  were  put 
into  one  brigade. 

While  still  on  the  staff,  when  all  was  quiet  after  the  battle 
of  Missionary  Ridge,  I  applied  for  a  leave  of  absence.  The 
rebel  army  was  then  at  Dalton  and  no  movement  of  the 
army  imminent.  January  13,  1864,  my  first  leave  of  ab- 
sence was  granted,  for  twenty-seven  days.  I  spent  most  of 
the  time  in  Ohio.  After  returning,  I  find  the  following 
letter,  dated  February  13,  1864: 

"  Once  more  I  am  at  the  post  of  duty,  having  arrived 
here  on  the  loth  inst.  At  Nashville,  I  remained  a  day  or 
two,  the  guest  of  General  Rousseau's  staff.  I  had  a  mag- 
nificent time  there,  visited  my  old  acquaintances  amongst 
the  officers  and  met  many  pleasant  new  ones.  I  rode  round 
the  fortifications  and  was  at  a  very  fine  party  at  a  house  of 
one  of  rather  secession  proclivities,  but  was  splendidly  enter- 
tained by  a  little  black-eyed  rebel  girl  from  Mississippi. 
Our  division  is  ordered  to  march  day  after  to- 
morrow, but  no  one  knows  where."  (This  was  a  reconnais- 
sance to  Buzzard  Roost.)  "The  impression  generally  is 
that  we  will  go  towards  Knoxville,  so  you  see  I  have  come 
just  in  time  to  enter  upon  active  duty.  All  right — I  think 
we  shall  have  a  rough,  tedious,  vigorous  campaign,  which  if 
successful,  will  break  the  back  of  the  rebellion.  The  rebs 
will  strike  hard,  vigorous  blows,  and  they  have  a  large  army 
and  good  generals.  .  .  .  After  the  march  and  the  fight 
which  is  imminent  therefrom,  are  over,  or  have  ceased,  I 
shall  ask  to  be  relieved  from  my  staff  appointment  and  take 
the  command  of  my  regiment.  .  .  .  The  regiment  re- 
mains at  Lookout  Mountain,  while  we  go  on  this  march,  or 
I  should  ask  to  be  relieved  now." 

The  next  one  was  written  from  the  regiment  and  is  as  fol- 
lows: 


I9O  ECHOES    OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

"  Lookout  Mountain,  Tennessee,  March  4,  1864. 
"  I  am  writing  this  from  my  own  headquarters  in  a  large 
building,  'above  the  clouds.'  The  regiment  is  encamped 
in  the  garden  in  front  of  the  house.  Have  been  very  busy 
since  joining  the  regiment,  and  yesterday  moved  camp. 
The  division  is  yet  encamped  ten  miles  from  Chattanooga, 
and  about  fifteen  miles  from  us.  I  wrote  you  that  I  should 
go  out  on  the  late  expedition  first,  and  then  join  the  regi- 
ment, but  the  general,  R.  W.  Johnson,  issued  an  order  that 
only  four  staff  officers  should  accompany  him,  and  my  name 
was  not  among  the  number.  The  headquarters  were  to  re- 
main here,  and  the  rest  of  the  staff  were  to  stay  and  conduct 
the  business  of  their  offices  here.  I  immediately  went  to  the 
general  and  urged  him  to  let  me  join  my  regiment  at  once, 
as  they  very  much  needed  my  services.  After  applying  to 
him  two  or  three  times,  he  relieved  me,  and  here  I  am.  He 
suggested  to  me  that  as  Colonel  Hobart  would  likely  soon 
join,  he  would  not  let  me  go.  But  I  replied  that  I  had  been 
on  staff  duty  for  a  long  time  and  the  regiment  thought  I  was 
neglecting  it — besides  I  was  tired  of  the  staff  anyway. 
Hobart  will  be  here  about  April  ist.  .  .  .  But  we  have 
a  rumor  that  we  may  be  ordered  to  the  front  to-morrow.  If 
so,  all  right;  it  may  be  better." 

"  Lookout  Mountain,  Tennessee,  April  29,  1864. 

"  All  this  week  I  have  been  at  the  front  on  picket  duty 
with  two  hundred  of  the  regiment.  I  am  going  out  again  in 
an  hour  or  two,  the  men  being  still  there.  .  .  .  This  is 
most  beautiful  weather.  The  air  on  the  mountain  is  fine 
and  invigorating  beyond  all  description.  It  is  cooler  than 
in  the  valleys  and  vegetation  is  more  backward,  but  the 
temperature  is  bracing  and  everything  is  fresh. 

"  My  mantel  over  the  fireplace  is  covered  with  laurel, 
pine  and  all  kinds  of  moss  and  stones.  I  don't  remember 
that  I  have  ever  told  you  about  Rock  City  and  the  lake  and 
falls  on  the  mountain.  Rock  City  is  about  two  miles  from 
our  camp,  and  is  a  village  of  immense  rocks  arranged  in  the 
manner  of  houses  in  a  city,  with  regular  streets.  It  is  a  very 
great  curiosity,  because  the  rocks  rest  upon  the  plain,  and 
are  entirely  disconnected  from  any  stratum.  One  of  the 
rocks  with  a  cave  under  it  and  an  excavation  in  the  side  is 


AT    CHATTANOOGA  IQI 

railed  the  hotel ;  another  resembles  a  camel ;  another  an 
elephant.  One  is  called  Lot's  Wife,  and  then  two  very 
high,  slim  rocks,  standing  near  together  are  called  the  twins. 
The  lake  and  falls  are  four  miles  farther  out.  A  creek, 
called  Rock  Creek,  flowing  along  the  summit  of  the  moun- 
tains, falls  about  twenty  feet  into  the  most  beautiful  little 
sheet  of  water  I  ever  saw.  It  is  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  diameter  and  is  surrounded  by  a  high  precipice, 
except  where  Rock  Creek  issues  from  it,  and  murmurs  and 
gurgles  through  a  wild,  deep  gorge  for  two  hundred  yards 
farther  where  it  again  falls  over  a  precipice,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  feet  down  into  the  most  terrible  of  dark,  deep 
gorges,  and  so  goes  on  down  the  mountainside.  The 
amount  of  grandeur  there  in  a  small  space,  is  enough  to 
occupy  the  lover  of  the  romantic  for  days.  The  small  falls 
and  the  lake  are  beautiful ;  the  large  falls  below  are 
grand.  .  .  ." 

I  have  a  photograph  of  the  lake  and  small  falls,  of  large 
size,  now  hanging  on  the  wall  of  my  home.  They  were 
taken  by  the  photographer  of  the  point  of  Lookout,  about 
the  time  this  was  written. 

The  letter  goes  on  to  say,  "  The  half  has  never  been  told 
about  this  mountain  and  so  far  as  the  notoriety  it  should 
have,  is  concerned,  it  might  as  well  have  remained  in  the 
possession  of  the  Cherokees,  who  evidently  had  poetry  in 
their  souls.  Buhver  sings  the  beauties  of  Como,  and  Byron 
of  Geneva — meaning  the  lake,  Geneva — but  those  who  have 
traveled  in  Italy  and  Switzerland,  and  have  also  looked  upon 
the  beauties  and  grandeur  of  this  mountain,  and  the  views 
from  its  crest  of  the  surrounding  valleys  and  far  hills,  say 
there  is  nothing  in  the  former  that  equals  the  latter.  These 
scenes  seem  yet  undiscovered  by  the  poet  and  the  artist,  but 
are  destined  to  become  the  theme  of  inspiration  to  both." 

Since  then,  Charles  Egbert  Craddock  has  written  some 
most  exquisite  descriptions  of  these  mountains  in  her  novels, 


192  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

while  the  "Battle  Above  the  Clouds  "  has  furnished  themes 
for  many  a  poem,  and  a  few  descriptive  and  misdescriptive 
lectures.  Since  the  war  I  have  become  familiar  with  the 
mountain  scenery  of  the  Rockies  and  the  Sierra  Nevadas. 
Lookout  Mountain  is  very  tame  beside  these. 

The  letter  proceeds,  "We  are  now  under  marching 
orders,  and  a  movement  is  anticipated  next  week.  I  do  not 
know  whether  our  regiment  will  move  with  the  column,  or 
remain  at  this  point.  I  am  ready  for  either  event."  (The 
order  herein  referred  to  was  the  opening  of  the  Atlanta 
campaign.) 

I  had  a  great  desire  to  command  the  regiment  in  a  cam- 
paign; but  knowing  that  Colonel  Hobart  would  return 
about  April  ist,  I  had  no  hopes  of  that.  It  will  be  seen 
further  on  in  these  pages,  that  early  in  July  on  the  Atlanta 
campaign  my  ambition  was  gratified  much  sooner  than  I 
anticipated,  yet  it  was  not  quite  in  the  way  I  wanted  it. 
Notwithstanding  Hobart's  transfer,  he  remained  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  twenty-first.  The  regiment  was  in  his  bri- 
gade, and  he  was  much  of  the  time  with  us.  He  could  at 
all  times  veto  legitimately  whatever  he  chose,  whether  I 
liked  it  or  not.  He  was  too  tender-hearted  for  a  good  dis- 
ciplinarian, but  took  excellent  care  of  his  regiment. 

Upon  returning  to  the  regiment  on  Lookout  Mountain, 
March  i,  1864,  I  found  that  certain  officers  and  enlisted 
men  had  been  detailed  on  recruiting  service  during  the  past 
winter.  They  had  brought  to  the  regiment  during  January 
and  February,  1864,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  volunteer 
recruits.  They  were  the  first  and  only  recruits  so  far  as  I 


AT  CHATTANOOGA  I 93 

remember,  the  regiment  received  during  its  term  of  service. 
It  will  be  observed  hereafter  that  we  received  some  transfers 
from  other  regiments  but  the  above  number  of  recruits  were 
all  we  directly  received.  They  were  divided  among  the 
companies  as  follows : 


B     .     .     .     . 

....  19 

C     .     .     .     . 

....    6 

D     .     .     .     . 

....  14 

E     .     .     .     . 

....    7 

F     .     .     .     . 

....  29 

G     .     .     .     . 

....  17 

H     .     .     .     . 

.     .     .     .  ii 

I      .     .     .     . 

....    5 

K     .     .     .     . 

....  23 

I  do  not  know  the  reason  for  this  unequal  distribution.  I 
presume  they  were  allowed  to  choose  their  own  companies, 
or  it  may  be  that  the  recruiting  officers  recruited  them  for 
certain  companies.  Major  Walker  was  one  of  the  officers 
that  had  gone  on  recruiting  service  that  winter.  He  was 
captain  of  Company  K.  But  why  Company  F  should  have 
received  twenty-nine  additions,  I  do  not  know,  unless  it  had 
been  very  much  more  reduced  than  the  other  companies  in 
the  preceding  campaigns. 

When  I  returned  to  the  regiment  on  February  29,  1864, 
these  recruits  had  been  uniformed  and  incorporated  into  the 
ranks.  They  quickly  learned  the  duties  of  a  soldier  from 
older  members.  They  did  not  appear  to  me  different  from 
the  old  soldiers,  except  they  were  younger  and  therefore  my 


194  ECHOES   OF  THE   CIVIL   WAR 

knowledge  of  their  individuality  is  very  slight.  I  think  they 
were  mostly  quite  young  and  would  have  volunteered  long 
before,  if  they  could  have  been  accepted  by  the  recruiting 
officers.  One,  Alfred  A.  Nugent  lost  an  arm  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Bentonville  N.  C.,  when  under  seventeen  years  of  age. 

What  a  glorious  resting  and  recruiting  camp  Lookout 
was  ;  how  grand  the  air  and  scenery  !  New  life  came  to  us 
as  we  gazed  on  the  far  off  peaks  of  three  states  and  the  ma- 
jestic Tennessee  River  that  flowed  so  peacefully  at  the  foot ; 
or  as  we  cast  our  eyes  back  at  the  mud  and  starvation  camps 
at  Chattanooga  that  lay  in  plain  view  so  far  and  yet  so  near 
below.  Here  the  men  gathered  moss  from  the  never  ending 
rocks,  and  carved  with  deft  hands  the  laurel  root  pipes  to 
send  to  friends  at  home.  Here  we  drilled  and  paraded, 
drew  new  clothes,  renewed  the  acquaintance,  long  past,  be- 
tween our  stomachs  and  mixed  vegetable  soup  and  dessicated 
potatoes.  The  native  mountain  girls  were  there.  Their 
shy  glances  showed  at  once  their  willingness  to  forget  for 
that  winter,  at  least,  the  gray  for  the  sake  of  the  blue ;  in 
fact,  their  eyes  turned  from  gray  to  blue. 

Our  venerated  chaplain  turned  one  of  the  largest  rooms  of 
the  headquarters  house  into  a  chapel,  and  charmed  us  with  his 
best  sermons.  From  here  he  went  on  leave  of  absence,  and 
came  near  being  court-martialed  by  Captain  R.  J.  Weisbrod, 
who  at  that  time  commanded  the  regiment,  for  not  returning 
in  the  time  specified  in  his  leave.  The  other  officers 
laughed  at  this,  for  the  captain  never  attended  preaching. 
They  sarcastically  remarked  that  the  captain  missed  the 
ministerial  offices  of  the  chaplain.  But  the  threatened  court- 


AT   CHATTANOOGA  195 

martial  was  simply  in  keeping  with  Captain  Weisbrod's 
strenuous  discipline.  He  was  a  fine  soldier.  Grand  old 
General  Thomas  visited  us  frequently,  and  was  always  re- 
ceived by  the  guard  with  all  the  honors  of  war.  He  was  the 
George  Washington  of  the  army. 

Every  one  had  his  photograph  taken  from  the  point  of  rock 
jutting  from  the  north  end  to  send  back  to  his  sweetheart, 
and  he  who  appeared  in  the  picture  as  most  nearly  falling 
over  the  precipice,  which  was  a  hundred  feet  high,  and 
having  the  largest  gauntlets,  was  the  greatest  hero.  I  have 
now  a  picture  of  a  group  of  the  officers  of  the  twenty-first, 
fully  uniformed  and  armed,  standing  as  near  that  awful  cliff 
as  possible.  I  value  it  highly.  During  the  entire  war, 
danger  was  never  much  farther  from  these  brave  officers 
than  this  cliff  then  was.  They  were  Captain  James  E. 
Stewart,  one  of  the  youngest  and  bravest  of  the  regiment, 
Captain  R.  J.  Weisbrod,  Lieutenant  J.  H.  Otto,  Lieutenant 

A.  A.  Harding,  Captain  A.  B.  Bradish,  and  Quartermaster 

B.  J.  Van  Valkenberg. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN 

The  Twenty-first  left  Lookout,  May  4,  1864,  on  the  Atlanta  Campaign 
— The  personnel  of  the  officers — The  army  and  its  field  of  opera- 
tions— Extracts  from  the  rebel  press — Buzzard  Roost  and  Rocky 
Face  Ridge — The  battle  of  Resacca — Dalton  and  Pumpkin  Vine 
Creek. 

UNDER  orders  to  join  the  division  at  Graysville,  Georgia, 
the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Volunteers  broke  camp  on  the 
4th  of  May,  1864,  and  marched  away  from  the  top  of  Look- 
out. It  had  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  muskets  in  line. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  H.  C.  Hobart  was  in  command.  The 
other  officers  were,  M.  H.  Fitch,  Major ;  Captains  C.  H. 
Walker,  R.  J.  Weisbrod,  James  E.  Stuart,  Fred  W. 
Borshardt,  Henry  Turner,  H.  K.  Edwards,  James  M. 
Randall,  and  A.  B.  Bradish ;  First  Lieutenants,  J.  H.  Otto, 
A.  A.  Harding,  Joseph  La  Count,  and  W.  H.  Fargo; 
Second  Lieutenants,  Hubbard  and  Dorien. 

The  twenty-first  was  a  better  regiment  then  than  they  had 
ever  been  before.  The  men  wore  bright  new  uniforms ;  the 
glow  of  health  was  in  their  faces ;  the  sun  glistened  from 
their  bright  muskets,  which  they  carried  with  the  jaunty  air 
of  veterans.  As  they  turned  their  faces  on  those  mountain 
heights  towards  the  south,  they  left  disaster  behind,  and 
beheld  success  and  victory  beckoning  them  on.  From  that 

196 


THE   ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  1 97 

moment  to  the  close  of  their  career,  they  pursued  a  de- 
feated and  retreating  enemy.  They  once  had  to  double  on 
their  tracks  in  pursuit  of  Hood.  Could  their  prophetic 
eyes  have  beheld  from  the  top  of  Lookout  Mountain,  their 
triumphant  future  battles  and  marches  through  Georgia, 
the  Carolinas,  Virginia  and  Maryland,  ending  with  the 
brilliant,  "tramp,  tramp,  tramp"  down  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  they  could  scarcely  have 
felt  more  elated  and  light-hearted  than  they  did. 

We  descended  the  mountain  road,  crossed  Chattanooga 
Creek,  marched  across  the  wide  valley  through  Rossville 
Gap  to  Graysville,  where  the  fourteenth  corps  was  then  concen- 
trating. I  remember  well  the  first  night's  camp  at  Graysville. 
The  white  shelter  tents  of  the  army  stretched  away  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach.  Some  soldier  desired  to  dispose  of  his 
candle,  which  still  remained  as  one  of  the  luxuries  of  the  late 
winter  camp  and  which  he  could  not  carry  in  his  knapsack. 
He  lighted  it  and  stuck  it  on  the  top  of  the  front  pole  of  his 
tent.  Another  and  another  followed  the  example,  until  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  the  camps  were  illuminated.  It 
was  a  very  striking  scene  and  was  a  symbol  of  their  uncon- 
scious faith  in  the  future  triumphs  awaiting  them  in  the 
pending  campaign.  In  contrast,  from  that  time  until  fair 
Atlanta  opened  to  us  her  arms,  darkness  at  night  reigned 
supreme  in  all  our  tents  except  the  little  that  penetrated  the 
canvas  from  outside  camp-fires. 

It  is  pleasant  to  thus  dwell  on  the  quiet  days  and  nights 
of  our  soldier  life,  when  nothing  more  belligerent  occurred 
than  the  "killing"  stories  told  by  our  comrades,  the 


198  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

"piercing"  laughter  which  followed  "sallies"  of  wit,  when 
good  humor  and  fellowship  ruled  all  the  days. 

Let  us  take  a  glance  at  the  army  and  the  field  of  opera- 
tions then  lying  before  it  in  what  is  called  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign then  just  beginning.  Grant  had  gone  to  the  Potomac 
as  commander-in-chief.  The  department  of  the  Mississippi 
had  been  created  and  Major-General  W.  T.  Sherman  placed 
in  command,  with  headquarters  at  Chattanooga.  General 
George  H.  Thomas  was  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  sixty  thousand  strong,  and  held  the  centre  at 
Chattanooga.  The  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  under  Major- 
General  McPherson  was  somewhere  west  of  Chattanooga, 
and  formed  the  right  of  Sherman's  army,  while  the  twenty- 
third  corps  under  General  J.  M.  Schofield  formed  the  left, 
some  distance  to  the  east.  The  entire  army  thus  organized, 
numbered  over  one  hundred  thousand,  and  were  to  act  as  a 
unit  in  the  coming  campaign.  The  rebel  army,  then  lying 
at  Dalton,  Georgia,  southeast  of  Chattanooga,  was  under 
command  of  Joseph  E.  Johnston  and  consisted  of  about 
fifty  thousand  troops. 

Our  base  was  Chattanooga,  and  the  railway  running 
thence  to  Atlanta  was  necessarily  our  line  of  operation. 
This  line  of  railway  had  to  be  kept  in  repair  and  open. 
Hence  a  very  large  number  of  troops  had  constantly  to  be 
detailed  as  we  advanced,  for  railway  guards  and  repairers. 
A  large  force  had  to  be  left  at  Chattanooga.  Also  the  rail- 
way from  Chattanooga  back  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  had  to 
be  well  guarded.  A  large  army  of  reserve  was  thus  em- 
ployed through  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  as  we  advanced, 


THE    ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  199 

also  through  Georgia.  It  is  well  to  note  the  distance  from 
Chattanooga,  of  the  places  that  became  by  reason  of  this 
Atlanta  campaign,  more  or  less  historical : 

Ringold        23  miles 

Tunnel  Hill 31  " 

Dalton 38  " 

Tilton 47  " 

Resacca 56  " 

Calhoun        60  " 

Adairsville 69  " 

Kingston 79  " 

Cassville 86  " 

Cartersville 91  " 

Alatoona 98  " 

Big  Shanty 103  " 

Marietta 119  " 

Chattahoochee,  or  Vinnings,  130  " 

Atlanta 138  " 

This  was  the  situation  in  the  field  in  May,  1864.  At  the 
same  time  Grant  was  beginning  his  campaign  of  the  Wilder- 
ness, with  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
troops.  What  of  the  situation  on  the  rebel  side  at  this 
time  ?  Here  is  what  the  rebel  press  was  saying : 

The  Richmond  Sentinel  of  the  i2th  of  January,  1864, 
foreshadowed  the  campaign  of  1864  in  these  words: 

"  To  the  timid,  the  new  born  year  lowers  gloomily ;  to  the 
prudent,  there  appears  cause  for  anxious  solicitude,  while 
even  heroism,  itself,  sees  that  the  tug  of  war,  the  crisis  of  the 
struggle,  is  upon  us,  and  that  we  must  prepare  ourselves  for 
the  tremendous  shock.  We  cannot  contemplate  the  coming 
next,  and  the  fourth  campaign  of  the  pending  war,  without 
solicitude.  We  shall  be  strongly  pressed  by  the  enemy. 
They  are  making  busy  preparations.  They  are  buying  mer- 


2OO  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

cenaries  for  the  fight  as  men  buy  sheep  for  the  shambles. 
They  are  paying  bounties,  the  half  of  which  the  world  never 
heard  of  before.  They  are  spending  money  with  a  reckless 
profusion  that  contrasts  strongly  with  their  native  parsimony. 
Our  enemies,  too,  will  commence  the  next  campaign  with 
some  advantages  of  position,  which  they  did  not  have  at  the 
beginning  of  1863.  They  will  begin  at  Chattanooga  instead 
of  at  Nashville ;  at  Vicksburg  instead  of  at  Memphis.  They 
come  flushed,  also,  with  wild  hopes,  and  they  are  filled  with 
increased  arrogance.  It  will  be  incumbent  on  us,  during  the 
current  year,  to  call  out  all  our  resources  and  put  forth  all 
our  strength.  We  must  make  the  most  vigorous  battle  of 
which  we  are  capable.  Everything  is  at  stake — property, 
honor,  liberty,  life  itself,  and  a  great  danger  presses. 

"  There  are  some  in  this  supreme  hour  of  life  and  death, 
when  we  are  fighting  a  foe  that  comes  upon  us  like  a  flood, 
when  our  country,  itself,  is  at  stake  and  threatened  with 
destruction,  who  make  it  their  part  to  be  extremely  noisy 
about  State  Rights  and  habeas  corpus  and  the  largest  liberty 
to  every  person,  who  is  disposed  to  abuse  it.  They  are  as 
wise  as  those  who  cried  '  fire '  in  the  midst  of  the  universal 
deluge. 

"Others  there  are  who  dog  the  steps  of  the  president, 
assail  his  acts,  assail  his  motives,  attack  his  usefulness,  and 
do  all  they  can  to  make  his  efforts  unsuccessful.  From  all 
these  men,  the  people  must  turn  away.  Whether  in  con- 
gress or  out  of  it,  they  are  doing  the  enemy's  work.  They 
are  distracting  us  when  distraction  is  destruction.  They  are 
dividing  us  when  division  is  death." 

The  Richmond  Examiner  of  about  the  ist  of  February 
said: 

"The  time  has  passed  for  offensive  military  operations  on 
the  part  of  the  Southern  armies.  Beyond  recovering  the  lost 
portions  of  territory,  the  true  policy  now  is  to  risk  nothing. 
Our  means  of  subsistence  have  been  too  far  exhausted  to  ad- 
mit of  any  other  than  defensive  tactics.  It  has  become  with 
us  now  a  simple  question  of  endurance.  With  the  south, 
the  duration  of  the  war  is  simply  a  question  of  continued 


THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN  2OI 

supply  of  food  for  the  people  and  the  army.  The  South  can 
hold  out  indefinitely  if  at  the  eleventh  hour  she  does  suc- 
ceed. The  Richmond  congress  can  bring  her  to  subjuga- 
tion in  six  months  more  by  conscripting  the  present  produc- 
ing classes  and  thrusting  them  into  an  unclad  and  unfed 
army." 

The  Examiner  of  February  8th  said  :  "  It  seems  already 
settled  that  the  enemy's  present  army  organization  must  go 
to  pieces,  and  after  the  spring  campaign  we  should  have  de- 
moralized armies  to  fight.  The  campaign  of  1864  will  open 
under  the  most  encouraging  auspices  for  the  South.  Our 
armies  will  be  stronger,  better  armed,  and  better  disciplined 
than  ever  before.  The  enemy  is  completely  ignorant  of  our 
plan  of  operations.  We  have  Smith  and  Magruder  instead 
of  Holmes  west  of  the  Mississippi ;  Polk  instead  of  Pember- 
ton  in  the  southwest ;  Johnson,  instead  of  Bragg  or  Long- 
street  in  Tennessee ;  Beauregard  triumphant  on  the  southern 
seaboard,  and  Lee  invincible  in  Virginia." 

Yes,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  began  the  campaign  in 
1864,  practically  where  it  had  begun  that  of  1861. 

The  Richmond  Whig  of  the  8th,  said  :  "  We  venture  to 
predict  that  a  rout  more  disastrous  than  the  Bull  Run  stam- 
pede awaits  the  yankees  in  most  of  the  conflicts  likely  to 
occur  during  the  next  campaign.  They  will  have  to  enter 
upon  it  with  all  the  disadvantages  of  raw  levies,  who  will 
present  but  a  poor  bulwark  against  the  gallant  veterans  of 
Lee  and  Johnson.  The  Bull  Run  stampeders  were  veterans 
compared  with  the  material  which  will  compose  the  new 
army.  We  see  no  ground  to  presume  the  yankees  will  bring 
into  the  field  a  larger  force  than  we  will.  If  they  do  it  must 
of  necessity  be  of  such  material  as  cannot,  if  multiplied  in 
the  disproportion  of  ten  to  one,  counterbalance  the  over- 
powering advantage  which  we  shall  possess  in  a  well  disci- 
plined army.  No  results,  however  palpably  achieved,  by 
our  arms,  can  be  received  as  an  index  of  what  is  to  come 
when  we  have  greenhorns  to  encounter." 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  southern  press,  under  the  stress  of 


2O2  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

conditions  brought  largely  upon  the  South  through  its  influ- 
ence, to  whistle  hilariously  while  the  so-called  Southern 
Confederacy  was  groping  in  midnight  darkness  through  a 
foreshadowing  graveyard.  In  the  light  of  what  actually 
took  place  in  1864,  the  foregoing  extracts,  especially  that 
from  the  Whig  make  a  curious  study  in  the  psychology  of  a 
waning  cause. 

Our  regiment,  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Infantry  was 
attached  to  the  first  brigade,  commanded  by  Brigadier- 
General  W.  P.  Carlin,  of  the  first  division,  commanded  by 
Brigadier-General  Richard  W.  Johnson,  of  the  fourteenth 
army  corps,  commanded  by  Major-General  John  M. 
Palmer.  During  the  campaign,  General  Johnson  succeeded 
General  Palmer  as  corps  commander,  and  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Brigadier-General  Jefferson  C.  Davis,  who  con- 
tinued in  command  of  it  until  the  close  of  the  war.  The 
promotion  of  General  Johnson  made  General  Carlin  com- 
mander of  the  division,  and  Colonel  Anson  G.  McCook, 
being  the  senior  colonel,  became  commander  of  the  brigade. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  campaign,  nine  regiments  composed 
the  brigade,  viz.:  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois, 
Forty-second  Indiana,  Eighty-eighth  Indiana,  Fifteenth 
Kentucky,  Second  Ohio,  Thirty-third  Ohio,  Ninety-fourth 
Ohio,  Tenth  and  Twenty-first  Wisconsin.  The  Tenth  Wis- 
consin and  the  Second  Ohio  dropped  out  about  July  28th, 
by  reason  of  expiration  of  service.  During  the  campaign 
there  were  only  two  commanders  in  succession  of  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hobart  and 
Major  M.  H.  Fitch. 


THE    ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  2OJ 

The  campaign  opened  on  the  8th  of  May  at  Rocky  Face 
Ridge,  which  covers  Dalton  on  the  north.  The  enemy  was 
posted  on  the  ridge  in  an  impregnable  position.  Our 
brigade  moved  forward  in  line  of  battle  to  a  position  on  the 
ridge  about  one-half  mile  southwest  of  Buzzard  Roost.  On 
the  gth,  the  Thirty-third  Ohio  and  our  regiment  moved 
farther  to  the  right,  trying  for  the  top  of  the  ridge,  but  found 
the  enemy  too  strongly  posted  to  make  a  passage.  We  re- 
ceived the  fire  of  the  enemy  at  every  point  approached. 
These  demonstrations  were  continued  during  the  loth  and 
nth,  to  hold  the  enemy  on  the  ridge  while  McPherson,  with 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was  passing  through  Snake 
Creek  Gap,  several  miles  to  the  right,  to  get  in  rear  of  the 
enemy  and  cut  him  off.  But  McPherson  failed  to  do  this, 
and  Sherman  said  that  he  lost  the  opportunity  of  his  military 
career.  We  understood  at  the  time  that  General  Thomas 
urged  General  Sherman  to  let  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
make  this  flank  movement,  but  instead  McPherson  was 
ordered.  It  was  a  complete  failure. 

On  the  1 2th,  we  followed  through  the  same  gap,  finally 
taking  position  on  the  night  of  the  i3th  on  the  left  of 
General  Ward's  brigade  of  Butterfield's  division  of  the 
twentieth  corps.  We  were  then  in  the  woods  near  Resacca, 
Georgia.  The  battle  of  Resacca,  so  far  as  regards  the 
twenty-first,  really  began  that  night  of  the  i3th  while  we  lay 
in  bivouac.  All  the  troops  of  our  division  had  halted  in 
close  column  of  regiments,  stacked  arms  and  lay  down  by 
the  stacks  wrapped  in  their  blankets,  and  were  soon  fast 
asleep,  except  an  occasional  sentinel,  "  treading  his  measured 


2O4  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

beat."  They  were  suddenly  awakened  by  a  rush  as  of  a 
charge  of  cavalry.  In  an  instant  every  man  was  on  his  feet 
and  in  line.  It  proved  to  be  only  a  poor  old  horse  with  a 
raw  place  on  his  back  as  large  as  a  tin  plate,  which  be- 
longed to  an  officer  (a  chaplain),  in  an  adjoining  regiment. 
He  had  broken  loose,  and  hoping  to  escape  from  being 
ridden  the  next  day,  made  a  rush  through  the  camp.  To 
the  half  awakened  soldier,  he  appeared  a  regiment  of 
cavalry.  There  was  great  commotion  for  a  few  minutes,  a 
few  muttered  oaths,  a  wondering  how  he  could  do  that 
without  treading  on  a  hundred  men  and  knocking  down 
fifty  stacks  of  arms;  then  the  men  laughed  at  the  ridiculous 
side  of  it,  lay  down  and  all  was  silent  again.  Then  some 
wag,  thinking  to  have  yet  a  little  more  sport  out  of  so  pro- 
lific a  subject,  grasping  at  anything  to  drive  away  the 
dreary  thoughts  of  the  coming  battle  of  the  morrow, 
awakened  the  echoes  of  the  grand  old  woods  by  yelling  at 

the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Here  comes  that  d d  old  horse 

again."  The  effect  can  be  imagined.  In  one  time  and 
two  motions,  every  man  was  on  his  feet,  but  no  horse 
came.  It  was  a  false  alarm.  There  were  some  vigorous 
inquiries  for  the  wag,  but  he  was  exceedingly  discreet,  and 
escaped  the  vengeance  of  his  comrades.  That  apparition 
of  the  ghostly  regiment  of  cavalry  on  the  charge,  opened  the 
battle  of  Resacca  to  the  twenty-first  regiment. 

At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  i4th,  the  line  of  battle 
was  formed.  I  was  detailed  by  General  Carlin  to  com- 
mand the  skirmish  line  of  the  brigade.  There  was  a  detail 
of  men  from  each  regiment  under  command  of  an  officer. 


THE   ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  2O$ 

Lieutenant  La  Count  of  K  Company  commanded  those 
from  the  twenty-first.  I  deployed  the  men  in  front  of  the 
line  of  battle  about  two  hundred  yards,  and  commenced  the 
movement  through  the  thickest  underbrush  I  ever  saw. 
Our  brigade  was  formed  in  two  lines.  The  twenty-first 
was  in  the  front  one.  We  soon  encountered  the  enemy's 
skirmishers,  but  in  the  thick  brush,  it  was  slow  work. 
Our  men  were  being  shot  down  in  ambush,  as  it 
were,  when  a  circumstance  happened  that  soon  cleared  the 
woods,  but  not  until  many  men  were  hit.  The  line  of  battle 
in  our  rear  followed  us  at  a  short  distance.  It  was  instructed 
to  dress  to  the  right.  The  regular  brigade  was  on  our  left. 
The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  was  the  left  regiment  of  our 
brigade  at  the  time  and  lay  across  a  hill  which  brought  it  in 
the  line  of  fire  of  the  rebel  pickets  and  some  of  the  men 
were  being  hit  by  shots  that  were  really  aimed  at  the 
skirmishers.  To  avoid  this,  the  commander  of  that  regi- 
ment, Colonel  Hobart,  moved  its  left  down  to  the  foot  of 
the  hill.  This  brought  the  regular  brigade,  in  trying  to 
keep  alignment,  rapidly  into  the  woods  in  front  and  at 
nearly  right  angles  with  the  main  line  of  battle.  There  was 
short,  sharp  firing  for  a  moment  between  them  and  the 
rebel  pickets,  but  it  cleared  the  woods  of  rebels,  who  took 
to  their  heels,  and  stopped  not  until  they  were  within  their 
works. 

At  the  time  of  this  movement,  I  was  just  riding  back 
through  the  line  of  the  Fifteenth  Kentucky,  looking  for 
General  Carlin  to  ask  for  reinforcements  for  the  skirmish  line, 
when  Colonel  M.  C.  Taylor  of  the  Fifteenth  Kentucky  ran 


2O6  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

to  meet  me,  and  congratulated  me  on  clearing  the  front  so 
expeditiously.  He  perhaps  did  not  know  to  the  day  of 
his  death  how  it  was  done,  and  I  did  not  until  after  the 
battle. 

The  line  was  then  moved  rapidly  through  the  woods, 
went  down  a  sudden  declivity  to  a  fordable  creek  that 
flowed  at  its  foot  and  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  looking  across 
an  open  field  beyond,  beheld  the  rebel  line  of  works.  In 
an  instant,  the  rebels  fired  a  volley  at  us.  Several  enlisted 
men  were  killed  and  wounded  by  this  first  fire  and  the 
colors  were  shot  down.  Their  musketry  and  artillery  fully 
swept  the  open  field.  It  looked  as  if  it  were  sure  death  to 
any  one  who  ventured  beyond  the  creek.  I  instructed  the 
skirmish  line  to  keep  up  a  fire  from  the  protection  of  the 
timber  that  fringed  the  creek  until  the  main  line  came  up. 
(The  skirmishers  became  a  part  of  the  main  line,  and  my 
duties  as  commander  of  skirmishers  practically  ended.)  I  im- 
mediately reported  the  situation  to  General  Carlin.  He  gave 
me  no  orders,  but  brought  up  the  main  line  and  planted  a  bat- 
tery on  the  high  ground  from  which  the  rebel  works  were 
shelled.  Here,  I  believe,  a  charge  was  ordered,  but  only  a 
few  men  went  as  far  as  one  hundred  yards  in  that  open 
field,  and  these  were  compelled  to  protect  themselves  behind 
stumps  and  depressions  in  the  ground,  so  terrific  was  the 
musketry  firing.  They  could  be  relieved  only  when  dark- 
ness came  and  another  brigade  took  the  place  of  ours. 

The  killed  in  this  battle  were  Harlow  W.  Hilton  and 
Francis  McKernan  of  A  Company ;  Andrew  Clausen,  B 
Company ;  Lewis  H.  Sykes,  D  Company ;  Thomas  Ginty, 


THE   ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  2O/ 

Charles  H.  Ranney  and  William  Stanfield,  G  Company ; 
Alfred  E.  Hobbs,  F  Company ;  Thomas  Atridge  and 
Gustave  Kenne,  K  Company ;  Lewis  N.  Bell,  I  Company. 
Died  of  wounds,  Thomas  Mulaney,  C  Company.  Twelve 
killed  and  died  of  wounds.  There  were  forty-one  wounded. 
Among  the  wounded  was  Lieutenant  Harding  of  G  Com- 
pany, who  was  wounded  at  the  creek  in  the  shoulder,  and 
afterwards  had  his  arm  amputated.  Among  those  who 
made  the  charge  through  the  open  field,  none  went  farther 
than  brave  Lieutenant  Hubbard  of  Company  C. 

General  R.  W.  Johnson,  in  his  report  of  this  battle  said  : 

"My  division  began  to  move  at  nine  o'clock,  precisely, 
May  1 4th.  The  advance  was  necessarily  slow  owing  to  the 
extreme  ruggedness  of  the  ground  passed  over,  the  dense 
underbrush  and  the  necessity  for  deliberation  on  my  part,  in 
order  that  the  troops  to  the  extreme  left  might  follow  the 
movements.  My  left  having  swung  around  by  a  march  of 
something  like  one  mile,  I  found  the  enemy  strongly  posted 
and  fortified  on  the  hither  slope,  and  near  the  crest  of  a  long 
elevated  ridge.  ...  In  front  of  their  position  was  an 
open  field  of  some  four  hundred  yards  wide,  sloping 
gradually  down  to  a  creek  directly  in  my  front.  .  .  ." 

After  halting  his  division  on  this  creek,  awaiting  instruc- 
tions until  11:30  A.  M.,  he  continues, 

"  General  Carlin  who  lay  very  near  the  creek  mentioned 
threw  forward  his  skirmishers,  driving  those  of  the  enemy 
within  their  works  "  (this  was  done  before  we  halted  at  the 
creek)  "and  moved  forward  his  lines  across  the  creek.  No 
sooner  had  his  first  line  emerged  from  the  cover  of  the 
woods  than  the  enemy — infantry  and  artillery — opened  upon 
it  with  terrible  effect.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  Car- 
lin pushed  forward  both  lines  across  the  creek  and  nearly 
half  way  across  the  open  field.  The  passage  of  the  creek 
had,  however,  sadly  disordered  his  lines  and  finding  it  im- 


208  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

possible  to  reform  them  while  advancing  so  rapidly  as  the 
emergency  of  the  occasion  required ;  hopeless  moreover  of 
holding  his  position  even  if  the  assault  should  succeed,  Car- 
lin  fell  back  to  the  cover  of  the  creek,  the  eastern  bank  of 
which  offered  in  some  places  all  the  protection  of  a 
well  constructed  fortification.  Here,  he  remained  by  my 
directions  all  day.  ...  In  this  affair,  General  Carlin's 
brigade  suffered  severely,  losing  considerably  over  two  hun- 
dred in  killed  and  wounded." 

The  battle  of  Resacca  was  not  one  of  the  great  battles  of 
the  war,  but  it  was  a  very  bloody  one  on  our  side.  It 
might  have  been  very  different  in  results  had  McPherson's 
army  taken  a  line  across  the  railroad  and  burnt  the  bridge 
when  his  troops  first  struck  Resacca.  After  the  rebel  army 
fell  back  from  Dalton  and  entrenched  on  a  line  of  hills  at 
Resacca,  it  was  a  mere  waste  of  life  to  charge  them  in  front 
as  it  was  afterwards  at  Kenesaw.  Nothing  was  accomplished 
during  the  whole  of  the  Atlanta  campaign  by  direct  charges 
on  earthworks.  Flanking  did  the  work,  and  would  have 
done  it  just  as  effectively  at  Resacca.  It  was  not  a  decisive 
battle  and  in  the  nature  of  things  could  not  be,  because  when 
defeated,  they  could  readily  fall  back  to  another  position. 

The  rebels  evacuated  their  position  here  on  the  night  of 
the  i5th.  May  i6th,  we  moved  to  the  town  of  Resacca, 
thence  to  Cassville  where  we  went  into  camp  at  noon  on  the 
2oth  and  remained  there  three  days.  Here  the  men  drew 
rations  and  clothing.  While  here  on  the  2ist,  I  wrote  as 
follows : 

"  I  have  nothing  with  which  to  write  but  a  pencil.  We 
are  about  eighty  miles  south  of  Chattanooga,  close  on  the 
heels  of  the  rebs  whom  we  have  driven  from  two  very  strong 
positions.  We  rested  part  of  yesterday  and  last  night,  dur- 


THE   ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  2OQ 

ing  which  time  the  enemy  has,  of  course,  got  out  of  reach, 
unless  he  concludes  to  make  a  stand  at  Alatoona  Mountains, 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  south  of  here,  the  only  place  he  can 
stand  this  side  of  Atlanta." 

This  assertion  proved  to  be  a  mistake.  He  stood  six 
days  on  Pumpkin  Vine  Creek,  three  weeks  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain  and  seventeen  days  on  Chattahoochee  River. 
General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  knew  much  better  how  to  de- 
lay the  inevitable,  than  did  a  major  of  infantry  on  the  Union 
side. 

"  Atlanta  is  about  fifty^five  miles  from  here.  The  great 
blunder  in  this  campaign  was  in  letting  the  enemy  retreat 
from  Resacca.  They  should  have  been  kept  there  and  the 
contest  ended  at  once."  (This  refers  to  the  failure  of 
McPherson  to  occupy  Resacca  ahead  of  the  rebel  army.) 
"  May  1 4th,  our  regiment  with  three  others,  the  Second, 
Thirty-third,  and  Ninety-fourth  Ohio,  supported  by  four 
regiments  in  line  behind  us  charged  the  works  at  Resacca. 
The  charge  failed  for  want  of  more  uniformity  of  action  in 
the  whole  division,  and  fifty-three  of  our  regiment  paid  for 
the  folly,  in  being  killed  and  wounded.  I  commanded  the 
line  of  skirmishers  that  preceded  the  charge  and  had  out  of 
four  companies  deployed,  about  fifteen  killed  and  twenty-five 
wounded.  It  was  pretty  hot,  but  as  usual  I  escaped  without 
a  scratch. 

"  We  have  received  the  news  up  to  the  zoth  from  the 
Potomac.  Before  I  can  make  up  my  mind  to  a  great  vic- 
tory on  our  part  there  "  (meaning  that  the  dispatches  an- 
nounced a  victory  in  the  Wilderness  for  Grant),  "I  shall 
wait  to  know  the  end  of  the  campaign.  Of  course  we  can 
rejoice  that  it  is  as  well  as  it  is  ;  but  when  an  army  starts  to 
take  Richmond  or  to  annihilate  Lee's  army,  it  is  defeated  if 
the  object  fail."  (It  did  not  fail,  but  it  was  many  months 
before  Richmond  was  captured  and  Lee's  army  surren- 
dered.) "  I  am  writing  this  on  a  drum  head  in  bivouac  but 
as  soon  as  we  get  into  camp  somewhere,  I  will  write  again  in 
ink.  I  think  we  shall  never  get  any  more  rest  with  Sherman 


2IO  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

as  commander.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  why  we  are  lying  still 
now,  and  all  begin  to  chafe  at  the  delay.  It  looks  as  though 
the  pursuit  was  given  up.  I  hope  we  shall  move  on  until 
Atlanta  is  in  our  possession,  or  the  rebel  army  is  annihi- 
lated." 

We  did  move  on  and  captured  Atlanta,  but  it  was 
General  Thomas  who  was  to  annihilate  the  rebel  army. 
This  he  did  at  Nashville  in  December,  1864,  after  Sherman 
had  made  the  march  to  the  sea. 

We  marched  from  Cassville  on  the  z^d,  and  on  the  26th 
arrived  at  Brown's  Mills,  three  miles  from  Dallas,  Georgia, 
passing  through  Burnt  Hickory  on  the  way.  The  enemy 
being  near,  our  command  moved  in  battle  array  in  two  lines 
to  a  point  on  Pumpkin  Vine  Creek,  near  Pickett's  Mills. 
The  night  of  May  2yth  was  very  dark.  The  regiment  was 
led  into  position  by  a  staff  officer.  The  men  lay  on  their 
arms  until  morning,  when  it  was  discovered  that  a  rebel 
deserter  had  come  into  the  line  of  the  twenty-first  during  the 
night,  and  lay  there  in  the  morning  with  his  musket,  and 
accoutrements  on  his  person.  He  said  he  had  come  in 
from  our  rear,  and  the  rebel  forces  were  there.  We  were 
facing  away  from  the  enemy.  The  regiment  was  immedi- 
ately countermarched.  Company  E,  commanded  by 
Captain  Weisbrod  was  deployed  as  skirmishers.  They  gal- 
lantly drove  the  enemy  from  a  wooded  ridge  a  few  rods 
away,  and  our  line  was  established  on  this  ridge. 

On  the  28th,  we  were  formed  in  a  single  line  along  this 
ridge.  We  remained  here  close  to  the  enemy,  firing  and 
under  fire,  until  June  6th.  Hood's  corps  attacked  this  line 
on  May  3oth,  but  was  repulsed. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN     (Continued) 

The  movement  from  Dallas  to  Kenesaw — Kenesaw  Mountain  from 
June  I  gth  to  July  3d — Skirmishing  from  Kenesaw,  past  Marietta 
to  Chattahoochee  River — A  long  delay  at  the  Chattahoochee — 
The  Battle  of  Peach  Tree  Creek — In  front  of  Atlanta  July  25th  to 
August  a6th — The  Twenty-first  not  in  the  battles  of  the  22d  and 
28th  of  July — It  made  a  charge  August  yth,  capturing  some 
prisoners,  but  losing  thirteen  wounded — Atlanta  flanked  and  fight 
at  Jonesboro — City  occupied  by  Union  army,  September  8th — 
List  of  losses — Author's  official  report  of  the  campaign. 

ON  June  Qth,  I  wrote  as  follows : 

"  The  army  to-day  is  lying  still  near  a  little  town  on  the 
Chattanooga  and  Atlanta  railroad,  called  Ackworth,  a  hun- 
dred miles  from  Chattanooga,  and  thirty-eight  north  of 
Atlanta.  With  the  exception  of  a  little  marching,  we  have 
been  quiet  for  a  few  days,  but  will  go  for  the  rebs  to-morrow 
at  6  A.  M.,  and  will  again  find  them  three  or  four  miles  from 
here  in  an  intrenched  position.  Three  times  since  leaving 
Ringold,  have  they  been  forced  to  fall  back  from  strong 
intrenchments.  Our  regiment  came  in  contact  with  them 
the  last  time,  May  27th,  and  continued  in  the  line  without 
being  relieved  six  days,  holding  the  rebels  back  from  our 
main  line  with  skirmishers  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
from  the  rebel  works  and  constantly  firing  upon  their  main 
line.  This  was  at  Pumpkin  Vine  Creek.  Their  skirmish- 
ers could  not  see  our  main  line.  The  brigade  commander, 
General  W.  P.  Carlin,  highly  complimented  our  regiment 
for  their  endurance  and  bravery.  We  lost  four  killed  and 
twenty-four  wounded,  making  a  total  of  seventy-six  struck, 
since  commencing  the  campaign,  out  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty.  I  am  very  well  to-day.  Have  just  returned  from 
Department  Headquarters,  trying  to  learn  the  latest  news. 

211 


212  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

They  have  none."  (And  I  might  have  added,  would  not 
give  it  if  they  had.)  "  In  the  papers  we  get  from  the  north, 
which  are  very  few,  little  is  said  concerning  the  movements 
of  this  army.  All  eyes  seem  to  be  directed  to  Grant.  That 
is  proper  enough.  The  great  blow  must  be  struck  there. 
This  movement  is  only  secondary,  but  nevertheless  impor- 
tant. Both  will  succeed,  and  the  military  power  of  the 
rebellion  be  crushed  this  campaign.  I  hope  it  may  come 
quickly.  I  think  the  siege  of  Richmond  will  last  some 
weeks,  but  we  can  walk  over  or  around  anything  in  our 
front." 

The  enemy  very  gradually  retired  from  Dallas.  The 
twenty-first  regiment  from  June  6th  until  the  lyth,  in  con- 
nection with  the  rest  of  the  brigade  cautiously  moved  after 
them,  always  in  line  of  battle  and  preceded  by  skirmishers. 
The  retreat  of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  during  the 
whole  of  the  Atlanta  campaign  was  masterly.  His  object 
was  to  avoid  a  battle,  except  when  he  was  certain  to  inflict 
loss  on  us  and  get  away.  He  was  greatly  outnumbered  and 
could  not  afford  to  meet  Sherman  in  an  open  field  on  equal 
terms. 

I  wrote  on  the  2  ad  of  June  as  follows  : 

"  June  22,  1864 — p  A.  M. 

"We  are  in  line  of  battle  at  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and 
skirmishing  constantly.  At  this  moment,  the  artillery  on 
both  sides  is  playing  backwards  and  forwards,  and  men  are 
being  killed  almost  every  day.  We  had  one  man  killed  by 
a  cannon  shot  yesterday.  We  have  been  thus  since  I  last 
wrote  you.  Two  or  three  days  ago  with  about  one  hundred 
men,  I  charged  upon  the  enemy's  skirmish  line  posted  in  a 
line  of  rifle  pits,  took  fourteen  prisoners,  several  stands  of 
arms,  drove  them  into  their  main  line  and  established  our 
line  within  three  hundred  yards,  notwithstanding  the  general 
ordered  us  to  fall  back  as  soon  as  I  ascertained  their  main 


THE    ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  21  3 

works.  When  I  went  to  report  to  the  general  he  thanked 
me  for  what  had  been  done.  The  whole  line  of  the  army 
was  moved  forward,  and  during  the  night,  the  rebels  fell 
back  from  that  line  to  this  point.  We  have  been  fighting 
every  day  for  more  than  a  month,  and  yet  there  is  no  pros- 
pect of  cessation.  It  is  yet  some  twenty-five  miles  to  At- 
lanta." 


Fortunately  we  were  not  in  the  celebrated  assault  of  June 
zyth  at  Kenesaw  Mountain.  Our  position  was  some  dis- 
tance to  the  right  of  that.  The  troops  who  made  that  as- 
sault, "  merely  to  show  to  the  rebels  and  to  the  country  that 
this  army  would  fight,"  as  General  Sherman  said,  were 
hurled  to  bloody  destruction.  When  General  Joseph  E. 
Johnston  took  a  position,  it  could  not  be  carried  by  direct 
assault.  Flanking  only  did  the  effective  work  on  this  cam- 
paign. 

The  position  at  Kenesaw  Mountain  having  been  evac- 
uated by  the  enemy  on  July  3d,  we  followed  through 
Marietta,  and  on  the  5th,  the  whole  army  was  in  pursuit. 
McPherson  was  some  miles  to  the  right. 

When  the  head  of  our  brigade  came  to  a  certain  forks  of 
two  roads,  General  Sherman  and  General  Thomas  were 
standing  there  with  a  bearer  of  dispatches  to  McPherson. 
They  sent  the  Tenth  and  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  under  my 
command  on  the  right  fork  road  with  the  bearer  of  dis- 
patches, to  open  communication  with  McPherson.  I  threw 
out  skirmishers  in  advance  and  moved  rapidly  down  the 
road,  being  fired  on  from  the  start.  We  had  killed  two  of 
the  enemy  and  taken  two  prisoners  when  suddenly  we 
brought  up  against  the  rebel  array  entrenched  on  the  north 


214  ECHOES   OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

bank  of  the  Chattahoochee  River.  Our  detachment  went 
into  line  of  battle,  reported  the  situation  back  to  the  brigade 
commander,  received  some  reinforcements  and  remained 
there  until  three  o'clock  that  day.  We  were  relieved  by 
the  whole  second  division  of  the  fourth  corps  which  in  sev- 
enteen days  occupied  that  same  position,  getting  no  nearer 
McPherson  nor  the  rebel  line.  I  do  not  know  what  became 
of  that  dispatch  bearer.  The  road  taken  by  the  detachment 
proved  to  be  the  main  road  to  Atlanta,  upon  which  the  rebel 
army  had  retired,  while  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  had 
taken  a  by-road. 

"  Chattahoochee  River,  Ga., 

"Ju/y  7,  1864. 

"  The  reason  letters  do  not  reach  the  north  sooner  than 
three  weeks,  is  that  the  mails  must  be  retained  at  some 
point  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  allow  the  movements 
then  in  contemplation,  to  be  accomplished  ;  otherwise  the 
northern  press  would  publish  prematurely  some  important 
marches  and  maneuvres.  We  are  now  within  ten  miles  of 
Atlanta,  on  a  hill  from  which  we  can  plainly  see  the  houses 
of  the  doomed  city.  The  army  passed  through  Marietta 
some  days  ago,  and  had  a  fight  three  miles  this  side  in 
which  our  regiment  under  my  command  was  deployed  as 
skirmishers.  I  am  now  in  command  of  the  regiment,  Colo- 
nel Hobart  being  in  command  of  the  left  wing  of  the 
brigade.  We  are  still  fighting,  the  rebs  disputing  every 
inch  of  the  ground.  But  it  is  very  little  use  for  them  to 
contest  much  longer.  We  are  bound  to  go  to  Atlanta. 
The  artillery  is  roaring  on  the  right.  It  must  be  some  flank 
movement,  in  which  case  the  enemy  will  light  out  from  our 
front.  He  occasionally  sends  a  bullet,  even  where  I  am 
writing." 

The  part  taken  by  the  regiment  in  the  battle  of  Peach 
Tree  Creek  is  sufficiently  described  in  the  official  report 


THE    ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  215 

of  the  campaign,  hereafter  given.  In  further  explanation 
of  that  fight,  I  will  say  that  our  regiment  was  in  line  "  en 
echelon  "  with  the  Tenth  Wisconsin  and  One  Hundred  and 
Fourth  Illinois,  on  a  wooded  hill  above  them.  Hearing 
firing  in  the  distance,  I  had  cautioned  the  men  to  be  in 
readiness  for  an  engagement,  and  then  went  down  the  hill 
in  front  of  the  regiment,  the  better  to  observe  the  probable 
approach  of  the  enemy.  The  timber  obstructed  the  view 
from  the  position  of  the  regiment.  The  men  could  not  see 
me  on  account  of  the  timber  and  underbrush.  I  was  think- 
ing just  how  I  should  receive  the  rebel  line  that  was  surely 
approaching,  when  the  regiment  commenced  moving  towards 
me.  McCook  and  Hobart  had  come  up  to  the  regiment 
from  behind,  and  not  finding  me,  asked  where  I  was.  The 
men  said  I  had  gone  down  in  front.  In  their  excitement, 
these  two  officers  did  not  come  to  my  position,  but  Hobart 
gave  the  command,  "  Forward  !  March  !  "  When  the  regi- 
ment reached  me,  I  was  greatly  surprised,  but  immediately 
assumed  command,  and  double-quicked  the  men  into  the 
hollow  in  front,  and  up  the  hill  beyond.  The  rebel  charge 
had  really  exhausted  itself  by  this  time.  Their  line 
melted  away  when  counter-charged,  like  mist  before  the 
morning  sun. 

"  Near  Atlanta,  Ga., 

"July  25, 1864. 

"  This  is  a  fine  bright  morning,  and  I  feel  well.  There 
was  a  little  fight  last  night,  but  it  amounted  to  nothing.  It 
was  announced  in  the  northern  papers  a  few  days  since  that 
we  were  in  Atlanta.  It  was  a  mistake.  The  rebel  army 
this  morning  occupies  the  edge  of  the  city,  and  we  are  facing 


2l6  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

them,  firing  into  it.  Skirmishing  is  going  on  all  the  time 
and  perhaps  in  a  day  or  two  we  shall  be  in  possession  ;  but 
Sherman  has  an  unfortunate  habit  of  making  premature  an- 
nouncements. This  is  a  most  wretched  country,  unculti- 
vated and  uninhabited.  All  along  the  path  of  the  army  the 
inhabitants  have  all  fled,  leaving  scarcely  a  sign  of  life  be- 
hind. Lower  Georgia  must  be  crowded  with  refugees. 
From  our  position,  we  can  look  into  the  city  of  Atlanta,  and 
every  five  minutes  a  twenty  pounder  parrott  sends  the 
Johnnies  the  compliments  of  the  day.  .  .  .  Our  corps 
badge  is  an  acorn — red  for  our  division,  white  for  the  second 
and  blue  for  the  third." 

"  Near  Atlanta,  Ga., 

"July  jo,  1864. 

"  I  have  just  come  in  from  the  front  line  and  write  this  in 
the  quartermaster's  tent  in  the  rear.  I  am  going  to  return 
as  soon  as  I  can,  for  no  one  is  there  to  command  in  my  ab- 
sence. .  .  .  The  regiment  has  been  quiet  except  on  the 
skirmish  line  since  the  battle  of  Peach  Tree  Creek.  The 
two  late  battles  have  been  fought,  that  of  the  2  ad  on  the 
left,  and  that  of  the  28th,  on  the  right  of  us,  but  Atlanta  has 
yet  to  fall  and  we  may  be  compelled  even  to-morrow  to 
make  a  bloody  record." 

The  advance  from  the  battle-field  of  Peach  Tree  Creek  to 
the  defenses  of  Atlanta  was  slow.  On  August  3d,  General 
Carlin  returned  and  assumed  command  of  the  brigade.  He 
had  been  absent  on  leave.  On  August  yth,  the  brigade 
itinerary  recites,  "The  line  was  advanced  about  five  hun- 
dred yards  to  a  hill  west  of  Utoy  Creek,  about  two  hundred 
yards  from  the  enemy's  main  line.  In  gaining  possession 
of  this  hill,  the  brigade  carried  two  lines  of  rifle  pits  under 
a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy.  .  .  .  The  second  line 
was  carried  by  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  which  regi- 
ment also  lost  several  men.  After  the  hill  was  carried, 


THE   ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN  2 1/ 

the  enemy  opened  a  heavy  fire  of  shell  and  canister  on  our 
line,  from  a  battery  in  his  main  works,  which  lasted  nearly 
two  hours,  killing  and  wounding  several  officers  and  men." 

" Near  Atlanta,  Ga.,  August  10,  1864. 
"  Don't  you  think  that  it  has  been  a  long  time  since  it 
was  announced  that  Atlanta  was  taken  ?  And  yet,  we  are 
fighting  for  it  with  no  more  apparent  success  than  ever. 
We  have  been  shifting  our  position  every  day,  and  almost 
every  night,  digging  trenches,  always  under  the  fire  of  the 
enemy  until  the  army  is  completely  worn  out,  like  a  super- 
annuated dray  horse.  Twenty  days  have  we  been  fighting 
the  battle  of  Atlanta,  and  nothing  yet  gained.  We  were  in 
the  fight — that  is,  the  attack — of  August  ;th,  and  captured 
several  prisoners,  with  a  loss  in  wounded  of  thirteen,  includ- 
ing Captain  Turner.  .  .  .  The  most  of  Stoneman's 
cavalry  is  reported  captured."  (This  referred  to  Stone- 
man's celebrated  raid  in  which  he  lost  nearly  his  whole 
command.) 

August  1 2th,  the  itinerary  goes  on  to  say — "Before  day- 
break this  morning,  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  was  with- 
drawn from  the  front  line  to  the  rear,  on  the  hill  near 
McKnight's  battery." 

Very  sensibly,  General  Sherman  concluded  not  to  repeat 
at  Atlanta,  the  disastrous  assaults  of  Resacca  and  Kenesaw. 
Instead,  the  army  on  the  26th  of  August  moved  around  the 
left  of  the  enemy's  position  in  military  order,  always  present- 
ing towards  the  enemy,  a  line  of  battle.  Part  of  the  army 
was  always  in  position  to  meet  an  attack,  while  the  march- 
ing troops  were  passing  with  the  wagon  trains  in  the  rear  of 
the  battle  line.  The  twentieth  corps  was  left  in  front  of 
Atlanta,  covering  the  railway  and  bridge  over  the  Chat- 
tahoochee  towards  our  base  at  Chattanooga, 


2l8  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

On  September  2d,  our  brigade  reached  Jonesboro,  a 
town  on  the  south  of  Atlanta  and  directly  in  the  rear  of  the 
rebel  army.  The  next  day  Atlanta  was  evacuated  by  Hood, 
who  in  July  had  succeeded  Johnston  in  command  of  the 
rebel  army. 

"  Camp  Near  Jonesboro,  Ga., 

"  September  4,  1864. 

"Atlanta  has  been  evacuated  and  we  are  here,  twenty 
miles  below,  waiting  until  we  find  what  the  rebels  are  doing 
and  where  they  are  going,  and  then  perhaps  we  may  return 
to  Atlanta  or  thereabouts.  .  .  .  Atlanta  was  taken  by 
a  flank  movement  around  the  left  of  Hood's  army,  striking 
the  Macon  railroad  at  this  point.  There  was  a  brilliant 
fight  in  which  our  corps  charged  the  rebel  works  and  took 
about  one  thousand  prisoners.  Our  brigade  was  not  in 
it." 

Our  brigade  arrived  within  two  miles  of  Atlanta  on  Sep- 
tember 8th,  and  went  into  camp,  just  four  months  from 
the  opening  of  the  campaign  at  Rocky  Face  Ridge  on 
May  8th. 

The  loss  in  killed  and  wounded,  excluding  the  missing  by 
capture,  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  was  a  little  over 
nineteen  thousand  ;  in  the  fourteenth  corps,  five  thousand 
six  hundred  and  forty-one;  in  the  first  division,  two  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  sixteen;  in  the  first  brigade,  six 
hundred  and  ninety-nine;  in  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin, 
one  hundred  and  nine. 

My  official  report  of  this  campaign  is  published  on  page 
555  of  part  i,  volume  38,  of  the  "Official  Records  of  the 
Rebellion,"  and  is  as  follows  : 


THE    ATLANTA    CAMPAIGN 

"  Headquarters  2 1st  Wis.  Vol.  Inf. 
"  Near  Jones  boro,  Ga.,  Sept.  5,  1864. 
"CAPT.  J.  W.  FORD, 

"A.  A.  A.  G., 

"  ist  Brigade,  ist  Division, 

"  J -4th  A.  C. 
"  CAPTAIN  : 

"I  have  the  honor  to  make  the  following  report 
of  the  operations  of  this  regiment  during  the  campaign 
commencing  May  yth  at  Ringold,  Ga.,  and  ending  Septem- 
ber 8,  1864,  at  Atlanta,  Ga. 

"  May  yth — Moved  south  towards  Buzzard  Roost,  and  at 
Tunnel  Hill,  formed  line  of  battle  but  met  with  no  enemy. 
May  gth — By  order  of  General  Carlin,  this  regiment  and 
the  Thirty-third  Ohio,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Montgomery, 
both  under  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hobart, 
made  a  recognizance  of  the  western  face  of  Rocky 
Ridge  south  of  the  gap,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  the 
crest.  After  passing  with  much  caution  along  the  base  of 
the  ridge  for  a  mile,  skirmishers  from  both  regiments  were 
deployed  and  the  ascent  began.  The  regiments  advanced 
behind  the  skirmishers  and  halted  when  the  latter  had 
gained  the  foot  of  an  almost  perpendicular  crest,  on  the 
upper  edge  of  which  the  rebel  skirmishers  were  posted. 
The  ascent  being  there  found  im practicable,  the  detachment 
was  ordered  back  by  General  Carlin.  Several  shots  were 
exchanged  and  one  rebel  hit.  No  casualties  to  this  regiment. 

"May  1 2th — Moved  through  Snake  Creek  Gap  towards 
Resacca,  and  on  the  i4th,  the  brigade  being  formed  in  two 
lines  near  Resacca,  the  twenty-first  being  the  third  regiment 
in  the  front  line,  at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  the  movement  against 
the  enemy  began.  One  company,  K,  was  on  the  skirmish 
line  and  skirmished  very  heavily  with  the  enemy  for  about 
one-half  mile  through  thick  underbrush,  and  in  a  very  hilly 
woods.  The  enemy's  skirmishers  were  driven  from  the 
woods  and  across  an  open  field,  beyond  a  tortuous  creek 
into  their  main  line  of  works.  This  regiment,  with  the 
others  in  the  brigade  were  formed  near  the  edge  of  the 
wood  on  a  high  bank  of  this  creek,  in  the  same  order 
in  which  they  had  advanced,  and  by  order  General  Carlin, 
commanding  brigade  charged  through  the  creek  and  across 


22O  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

the  open  field  upon  the  enemy's  works,  which  were  distant 
about  three  hundred  yards.  The  creek  in  many  places 
was  waist  deep  to  the  men,  and  in  moving  through,  the 
ranks  were  very  much  broken.  In  this  broken  condition 
it  emerged  into  the  open  field  under  a  most  galling  fire  from 
the  enemy,  in  which  it  was  impossible  to  again  reform.  In 
the  impetuosity  of  the  charge,  many  men  went  ahead  of  the 
regiment,  but  were  compelled  to  take  shelter  after  advanc- 
ing about  half-way  across  the  field  where  they  encountered 
another  branch,  and  those  behind,  seeing  the  hopelessness 
of  gaining  the  enemy's  works,  took  protection  behind  stumps 
and  whatever  offered  protection.  The  most  of  the  regiment 
during  the  afternoon  fell  back  to  the  creek,  and  remained 
there  under  the  shelter  of  a  temporary  work  made  of  rails, 
from  which  they  kept  up  a  fire  upon  the  enemy  that  kept 
them  close  under  their  works  until  after  dark  when  those 
yet  in  the  open  field  joined  them,  and  the  regiment  was 
relieved,  and  retired  with  the  balance  of  the  brigade  to  the 
rear  to  bivouac  during  the  night.  In  this  engagement,  the 
regiment  lost  in  killed,  nine  men  ;  and  wounded,  two  offi- 
cers, Second  Lieutenants  Harding  and  Fargo,  both  com- 
manding companies,  and  thirty-six  men."  (It  was  sub- 
sequently disclosed  that  the  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
was  fifty-three.) 

"The  enemy  having  evacuated  Resacca  on  the  night  of 
the  i5th  of  May,  the  regiment  moved  with  the  brigade  in 
all  its  marches,  and  went  into  position  with  it  on  Pumpkin 
Vine  Creek,  near  Dallas,  Ga.,  May  2yth.  May  28th — Two 
companies  of  this  regiment,  under  Captains  Weisbrod  and 
Edwards  drove  the  enemy's  skirmishers  from  a  very  strong 
position  on  a  wooded  ridge,  and  established  our  skirmish 
line  on  a  crest  still  200  yards  in  advance,  and  within  that 
distance  of  the  enemy's  main  line.  The  regiment  took  posi- 
tion on  the  crest  from  which  the  enemy's  skirmishers  had 
been  driven.  May  joth — About  six  o'clock,  p.  M.,  that 
part  of  the  line  on  which  the  twenty-first  was  posted  was 
attacked  by  part  of  Hood's  corps,  which  advanced  from 
their  main  works  in  line  of  battle.  The  skirmish  line  drove 
them  back,  and  those  of  this  regiment  took  one  wounded 
prisoner.  Three  dead  rebels  were  left  in  front  of  the  skir- 
mish line  of  the  regiment. 


THE   ATLANTA   CAMPAIGN  221 

"This  position  was  held  until  June  2<1,  when  the  regi- 
ment was  relieved  by  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Ohio,  of 
a  brigade  from  General  Baird's  division.  We  had  been 
constantly  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  for  six  days  and 
most  of  the  time  the  rebels  and  ours  were  occupying  the 
summit  of  the  same  ridge,  within  thirty  yards  of  each  other, 
firing  constantly.  During  these  six  days  skirmishing,  lost 
four  men  killed  and  twenty-four  wounded. 

"June  6th — Marched  within  three  miles  of  Ackworth, 
and  changed  position  from  day  to  day  with  the  brigade. 
When  near  Big  Shanty,  June  i7th,  the  skirmish  line  of  the 
brigade  became  again  heavily  engaged  with  the  enemy, 
driving  him  about  one-half  mile. 

"June  i8th — The  skirmish  line  of  the  brigade  of  which 
fifty  men  from  this  regiment  formed  a  part  charged  upon 
the  enemy's  rifle  pits  and  drove  his  skirmishers  into  the 
main  line,  capturing  thirteen  prisoners,  of  whom  the  skir- 
mishers of  the  twenty-first  took  seven.  The  enemy,  that 
night  abandoned  his  position  and  fell  back  to  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  and  the  regiment  moved  up  and  took  position  at 
that  place.  Here  the  movements  of  the  regiment  are  iden- 
tical with  those  of  the  brigade,  changing  position  as  ordered 
from  one  part  of  the  line  of  the  army  to  the  other,  constantly 
under  fire  from  the  enemy's  artillery,  and  a  part  of  the  regi- 
ment nearly  every  day  on  the  skirmish  line.  In  the  night  of 
July  2,  1864,  the  enemy  again  evacuated  his  position. 
During  this  engagement,  lost  three  killed  and  three 
wounded. 

"  July  3d — Marched  through  Marietta,  Ga.,  and  went 
into  camp  about  three  miles  south  of  that  place. 

"July  4th — This  regiment  was  deployed  as  skirmishers, 
covering  the  brigade,  and  advanced  about  one  mile  south, 
where  they  came  upon  the  enemy's  works,  and  became 
sharply  engaged  with  his  skirmishers,  driving  them. 

"July  5th — The  enemy  fell  back  to  the  Chattahoochee, 
and  this  brigade  proceeded  the  same  day.  Having  ad- 
vanced about  two  miles,  this  regiment  under  Major  M.  H. 
Fitch,  and  the  Tenth  Wisconsin  Infantry  under  Captain 
Roby,  the  detachment  being  commanded  by  the  former 
officer,  were  sent,  by  order  of  Colonel  McCook  commanding 
brigade,  on  a  road  leading  to  the  right  from  the  main  col- 


222  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

umn  for  the  purpose  of  opening  communication  with  General 
McPherson's  column,  which  was  moving  south  parallel  with 
this  column,  and  west  of  it.  The  detachment,  preceded  by 
skirmishers,  advanced  about  two  miles  when  it  came  upon 
part  of  the  line  of  rebel  works  at  the  Chattahoochee  River, 
behind  which  the  enemy  was  posted  in  force.  The  road 
upon  which  it  had  moved  is  the  main  thoroughfare  from 
Marietta  to  Atlanta.  The  rebel  skirmishers  were  driven 
during  the  whole  march.  The  detachment  took  position  at 
the  forks  of  a  road,  nine  and  one-half  miles  from  Atlanta, 
and  being  relieved  about  3  p.  M.  by  General  Davis'  division, 
joined  the  brigade  in  position  east  of  it  about  one  mile,  hav- 
ing killed  two  rebels  and  taken  two  prisoners.  No  casual- 
ties occurred  to  the  detachment. 

"July  i yth — Advanced  across  the  Chattahoochee  River, 
skirmishers  from  the  regiment  engaging  and  driving  those 
of  the  enemy,  every  day  until  the  2oth  of  July,  when  the 
regiment  lying  in  the  second  line  of  the  brigade  on  the  crest 
of  a  hill,  near  Peach  Tree  Creek  was  ordered  by  Colonel 
McCook,  commanding  brigade,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hobart,  commanding  second  line,  to  move  down  the  hill 
into  the  ravine  and  take  position.  At  this  time — about  four 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  a  rebel  line  of  battle  had  attacked  most 
furiously  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois  on  the 
northern  face  of  the  hill,  beyond  the  ravine  into  which  the 
twenty-first  was  ordered,  but  the  order  not  having  been 
given  to  the  commanding  officer  of  this  regiment,  and  he, 
supposing  the  order  was  to  move  in  support  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois  against  the  rebels,  charged 
upon  the  double-quick  up  the  hill,  to  the  right  of  that  regi- 
ment, the  rebels  falling  back  at  the  beginning  of  the  move- 
ment, before  the  twenty-first  reached  the  position,  leaving 
their  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field.  In  this  affair,  the 
regiment  lost  three  wounded. 

"July  2ist — At  7  P.  M.,  moved  south  one  mile  and  threw 
up  heavy  earthworks,  but  July  22d,  at  daylight,  the  rebels 
having  again  fallen  back,  advanced  to  Atlanta  and  took 
position  on  the  north  side  of  that  city. 

"August  7th — The  regiment  having  in  the  meantime 
moved  towards  the  right  of  the  position  of  our  army,  about 
four  o'clock,  P.  M.,  General  Carlin  ordered  two  companies 


THE  ATLANTA  CAMPAIGN  223 

of  this  regiment  to  be  deployed  against  the  rifle  pits  occu- 
pied by  the  enemy's  skirmishers,  the  first  division  of  the 
regiment  commanded  by  Captain  Henry  Turner  was  moved 
forward,  and  they  were  supported  in  a  few  minutes  by  the 
second  division  under  Captain  Edwards.  These  two  divi- 
sions moved  gallantly,  but  met  with  such  stubborn  resistance, 
that  the  remaining  six  companies  were  thrown  forward  upon 
the  charge  when  the  rebel  pits  were  carried,  and  several 
prisoners  taken,  among  whom  was  a  rebel  captain.  The 
regiment  lost  thirteen  wounded,  among  whom  was  Captain 
Turner  of  D  Company.  This  movement  gave  a  good  posi- 
tion for  the  main  line  to  occupy,  within  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  of  the  enemy's  works,  which  was  held  until 
August  2ist  at  eight  o'clock,  p.  M.,  when  the  regiment 
moved  with  the  brigade  around  the  left  flank  of  the  rebel 
army. 

"  August  28th — Came  to  the  Montgomery  Railroad,  six 
miles  west  of  East  Point.  August  2pth — Deployed  as 
skirmishers  in  front  of  the  brigade  ;  moved  east  upon  the 
Montgomery  Railroad,  driving  rebel  cavalry  about  two 
miles,  and  moved  back  same  day  to  point  of  departure. 
From  that  date  until  the  present,  our  movements  have  been 
merely  marches,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  retreat  in 
the  face  of  the  enemy,  and  in  line  of  battle  on  September 
6th,  when  our  skirmishers  were  engaged  with  the  enemy, 
and  one  man  was  reported  missing. 

"  The  total  casualties  to  the  regiment  during  the  cam- 
paign are  as  follows : 

Killed 19 

Wounded 90 

Prisoners 3 

Total 112 

"Very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"M.  H.  FITCH, 

"  Major  Com'd'g, 

"Twenty-first  Wis.  Vol." 


CHAPTER  XVII 
JUST  BEFORE  THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA 

The  author  procured  leave  of  absence  and  went  north  from  Atlanta — 
Hood's  raid  to  the  rear  followed  by  Sherman — Author  returned 
from  leave  and  joined  the  army  at  Kingston — Muster  in  as 
Lieutenant-Colonel — Futile  effort  to  prevent  Twenty-first  going 
on  march  to  the  sea — The  vote  in  the  regiment  and  brigade  for 
President — Chaplain  carries  $27,000  north  for  the  men. 

AFTER  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  I  procured  a  leave  of  ab- 
sence for  thirty  days  and  went  north,  September  26,  1864. 
The  principal  reason  for  asking  this  leave  was  not  given  in 
the  application.  I  do  not  propose  to  give  it  here.  But 
after  the  war,  Major  C.  H.  Walker  said  to  my  wife  when 
introduced  to  her,  "I  am  glad  to  meet  the  only  lady  in  my 
knowledge  who  married  a  soldier  during  the  war  and  did 
not  spoil  him."  This  was  the  second  and  last  leave  I  had 
in  the  army.  While  I  was  away,  Hood,  who  had  succeeded 
Johnston  in  command  of  the  rebel  army,  made  his  famous 
raid  in  rear  of  the  Union  army,  and  was  closely  followed  by 
most  of  Sherman's  forces  on  October  3d,  the  twentieth  corps 
being  left  at  Atlanta. 

The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Infantry,  commanded  by 
Captain  Charles  H.  Walker,  took  part  in  this  campaign, 
which  lasted  from  October  3d  to  October  2ist.  At  the 
latter  date,  it  went  into  camp  at  Gaylesville,  Ala.,  where  it 
remained  until  the  28th  of  October,  and  then  marched  back 

224 


JUST    BEFORE    THE    MARCH    TO    THE   SEA  22$ 

to  Rome,  Ga.,  and  from  there,  on  the  2d  of  November,  to 
Kingston,  Ga. 

The  marching  on  that  campaign  was  rapid  and  arduous, 
but  the  twenty-first  had  no  fight  with  the  enemy.  The 
rebel  army  moved  too  fast  to  be  caught.  I  arrived  at 
Chattanooga  on  October  28th,  on  my  return  to  the  regi- 
ment from  my  leave  of  absence,  and  found  Colonel  Hobart 
there.  The  regiment  was  then  on  the  march  between 
Gaylesville,  Ala.,  and  Rome,  Ga.  At  that  time  I  did  not 
know  where  the  regiment  was  and  therefore  remained  in 
Chattanooga.  General  Thomas  then  had  his  headquarters 
in  Chattanooga,  having  left  Atlanta  September  29th. 
Colonel  Hobart  was  at  work,  trying  to  accomplish  three 
things  : 

ist — The  transfer  of  seventy- five  men  from  the  Tenth 
Wisconsin  Infantry,  which  was  about  to  be  mustered  out, 
to  the  twenty-first. 

ad — To  be  mustered  as  colonel  at  Chattanooga  before 
going  to  the  regiment.  He  had  his  commission  in  his 
possession. 

3d — To  get  an  order  from  General  Thomas  transfer- 
ring the  twenty-first  from  the  front  to  the  post  at  Chat- 
tanooga. 

He  easily  accomplished  his  first  object,  the  transfer  of 
troops.  The  time  of  the  tenth  as  to  its  first  enlistment  had 
expired,  but  seventy-five  men  who  had  joined  it  later  were 
transferred  to  us  to  serve  out  their  time.  Major  Walker 
preceded  the  regiment  to  Marietta  and  marched  forty-five 
of  them  into  our  ranks  as  we  passed  that  town,  November 


226  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

14,  1864.  The  other  thirty  were  absent  from  various 
causes. 

On  September  aoth,  at  Atlanta,  three  hundred  and 
seventy-one  men,  on  paper,  of  the  First  Wisconsin,  whose 
terms  had  not  expired,  when  that  regiment  was  mustered 
out,  were  transferred  to  us.  There  was  quite  a  rivalry 
between  the  Third  Wisconsin  Infantry,  I  think  it  was,  and 
the  twenty-first,  to  procure  these  men.  Colonel  Hobart 
obtained  a  leave  of  absence  and  went  to  Washington,  D.  C., 
on  this  business.  On  his  way  there,  he  fell  in  with  an 
officer  of  the  Third  Wisconsin  Infantry,  whose  name  I  do 
not  now  recall,  and  in  conversation  with  him,  discovered 
that  he  was  also  on  his  way  to  Washington.  Conjecturing 
that  he  might  be  on  the  same  errand,  Colonel  Hobart  made 
some  excuse  to  separate  from  him  at  Indianapolis.  Hobart 
took  another  train,  and  hurrying  to  the  War  Department 
on  his  arrival  at  Washington,  procured  the  order  for  the 
transfer  and  hastened  back  with  it.  His  superior  experi- 
ence in  political  matters  before  the  war  in  Wisconsin  gave 
him  a  decided  advantage  in  a  contest  of  this  kind. 

The  numbers  transferred  from  the  first  and  tenth,  three 
hundred  and  seventy-one  and  seventy-five,  respectively, 
represented  merely  names  upon  the  rolls,  present  and  ab- 
sent. Only  forty-five  joined  us  from  the  tenth  at  Marietta, 
and  two-hundred  from  the  First  Wisconsin. 

After  these  transfers,  our  regiment  numbered  nine  hun- 
dred on  the  rolls,  present  and  absent.  I  think  about  four 
hundred,  or  perhaps  four  hundred  and  fifty  were  present. 
They  were  disciplined  and  hardened  soldiers  and  made  a 


JUST   BEFORE   THE    MARCH    TO   THE  SEA  22/ 

fine  appearance.  For  a  long  time  prior  to  this,  Colonel 
Hobart,  Major  Walker  and  myself,  as  lieutenant-colonel, 
had  held  our  commissions  for  the  rank  of  colonel,  lieutenant- 
colonel,  and  major,  but  could  not  be  mustered  because  of 
the  small  enrollment  of  our  regiment.  Now,  we  were 
entitled  by  these  transfers,  to  muster.  Hence  it  was  very 
important  to  us  that  these  transfers  be  procured.  Colonel 
Hobart  had  been  lieutenant-colonel  ever  since  the  first 
organization  of  the  regiment  at  Oshkosh.  On  the  way  to 
the  regiment  in  October,  1862,  from  his  former  regiment, 
the  Fourth  Wisconsin,  he  had  stopped  to  see  Colonel 
Sweet  at  some  point  where  he  lay  in  a  hospital,  and  gener- 
ously told  him  not  to  resign,  and  to  take  all  the  time  he 
wanted  to  get  well.  Colonel  Sweet  lingered  between  life 
and  death  for  months,  and  when  he  did  resign,  having  dis- 
covered that  his  wound  permanently  disabled  him  for  field 
service,  the  numbers  of  the  regiment  had  been  so  reduced 
by  death  and  discharges  for  disability,  that  no  promotions  of 
field  officers  could  be  made.  An  order  had  been  pro- 
mulgated prior  to  that  time,  by  the  War  Department,  pro- 
hibiting the  mustering  of  field  officers  and  captains  under 
new  commissions  in  regiments  below  a  certain  enrollment. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hobart  re- 
mained lieutenant-colonel  for  nearly  two  years  before  he 
could  be  mustered  as  colonel.  For  the  same  reason, 
Captain  Walker,  being  the  senior  captain,  acted  as  major, 
and  did  not  attain  the  rank  until  November.  We  were  not 
mustered  until  November  6,  1864,  at  Kingston. 

The  air  was  full  of  rumors  that  Sherman  was  going  to 


228  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

leave  General  Thomas  in  command  at  Chattanooga  and  cut 
loose,  taking  with  him,  the  bulk  of  the  army,  including  the 
fourteenth  corps,  then  in  command  of  General  Jeff  C. 
Davis.  To  what  point  Sherman  would  march,  no  one  could 
tell.  Certain  it  was  he  would  have  no  base  of  supplies,  and 
the  wiser  course  then  seemed  to  Colonel  Hobart  and  myself 
that  the  twenty-first  regiment  should  be  transferred  from  the 
fourteenth  corps  to  the  post  at  Chattanooga,  under  our  old 
commander.  After  some  considerable  effort,  the  order  from 
General  Thomas,  making  the  transfer  was  obtained.  Ho- 
bart was  on  very  friendly  terms  with  General  Davis,  and 
knowing  that  Davis  would  be  offended  with  him  for  procur- 
ing such  an  order,  he  arranged  with  me  to  carry  the  order 
six  hours  in  advance  to  Kingston  and  present  it  to  General 
Davis.  As  soon  as  Davis  read  it,  he  asked  me  where  Ho- 
bart was  and  seemed  very  angry.  He  immediately  carried 
the  order  to  General  Sherman  and  had  it  countermanded 
just  before  the  march  to  the  sea  began.  How  short  a  dis- 
tance into  the  future,  the  human  mind  can  penetrate  !  At 
the  close  of  that  winter  of  1864-5,  ^  was  perfectly  obvious 
that  the  pleasure  and  welfare  of  the  men  and  officers  of  the 
twenty-first  required  that  instead  of  trying  to  be  transferred, 
all  our  efforts  should  have  been  strained  to  go  with  Sherman 
on  that  picnic  to  Savannah,  because,  soon  after  we  started 
on  our  march,  Thomas'  troops  had  one  of  the  most  disa- 
greeable campaigns  of  the  war,  and  fought  two  hard  battles, 
those  of  Franklin  and  Nashville,  while  we  met  no  enemy 
worthy  of  attention,  and  lived  on  the  fat  of  the  land — tur- 
keys, pigs,  sweet  potatoes,  hams,  chicken,  sorghum,  apple- 


JUST    BEFORE   THE    MARCH    TO    THE   SEA  22Q 

jack,  and  when  we  arrived  at  Savannah,  rice  and  oysters 
were  added  as  dessert — a  little  too  much  rice  to  the  oyster 
for  awhile,  but  success  and  salt  sea,  made  amends  for  that. 
In  a  letter  from  Chattanooga,  dated  November  4,  1864,  I 
said  : 

"This  town  is  one  imperial  mud  hole,  and  Hobart,  when 
he  comes  in  every  night,  looks  like  I  imagine,  the  imperial 
sow  of  augury  used  to  appear  after  a  royal  wallow." 

I  presume  I  looked  the  same  way.  My  next  letter  was  as 
follows : 

"  Camp  Near  Kingston,  Ga. 

"  November  p,  1864. 

"  I  arrived  at  the  regiment  November  6th,  six  hours  ahead 
of  Hobart  and  found  everything  in  good  condition.  My 
horse  jumped  five  feet  high  when  I  mounted  him  and  rode 
out.  I  was  mustered  as  lieutenant-colonel  from  November 
i  st.  .  .  .  Our  regiment  was  paid  yesterday  to  October 
3ist.  The  chaplain  will  likely  go  home  to  carry  the  money. 
The  army  is  certainly  going  off  on  some  expedition 
that  will  cut  us  off  from  all  communication  with  the  world, 
and  there  is  no  knowing  when  you  will  hear  from  me  again. 
Hobart  is  in  command  of  the  brigade,  and  I  am  in  com- 
mand of  the  regiment.  Walker  has  gone  down  to  Marietta 
to  get  about  seventy-five  recruits.  .  .  .  Our  regiment 
voted  yesterday.  There  were  three  hundred  and  eleven  for 
Lincoln,  and  eighty-six  for  Little  Mac.  The  brigade  cast 
ten  hundred  and  fifty-eight  votes  for  Lincoln,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-eight  for  Mac,"  (meaning  McClellan.) 

This  was  my  au  revoir  to  the  outside  world,  just  before 
going  down  with  the  army  of  Georgia  like  a  lost  river  in  an 
underground  flow,  not  to  come  to  the  surface  again  until  we 
reached  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  December  i2th. 


23O  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

I  think  it  was  about  $27,000  that  Chaplain  O.  P.  Clinton 
carried  back  with  him  in  greenbacks.  He  rolled  them  up 
in  his  blanket  and  strapped  it  tight.  He  kept  this  roll 
either  in  his  hand,  or  at  night,  under  his  head,  until  he 
reached  his  home  at  Neenah,  Wisconsin,  and  then  sent  each 
family  of  the  soldiers  the  amount  due  it,  according  to  a  list 
of  names  and  amounts  he  had  taken  before  leaving  the  regi- 
ment. The  blanket  was  fuller  of  greenbacks  than  the  ordi- 
nary army  blanket  was  of  graybacks.  It  was  a  great  boon 
to  the  families  of  the  soldiers  to  receive  the  money  in  this 
way,  and  relieved  the  soldiers  themselves,  of  a  burden  and 
a  danger  of  loss  on  the  "march  to  the  sea."  When  a  sol- 
dier had  much  money,  there  was  always  a  great  temptation 
to  either  spend  it  in  every  town  he  came  to,  or  to  gamble 
with  his  comrades. 

I  looked  upon  that  trip  of  the  chaplain's  as  a  great  source 
of  good  discipline  to  the  regiment,  in  thus  taking  temptation 
away  from  the  men,  and  at  the  same  time,  carrying  joy  and 
comfort  to  several  hundred  wives  and  children  in  the  far 
away  homes  of  Wisconsin.  The  fact  is,  the  least  duty  of  a 
chaplain  in  the  army,  was  preaching.  His  usefulness  lay  in 
just  such  acts  as  this  ;  in  cheering  the  sick  and  down-hearted  ; 
visiting  the  hospitals  ;  writing  letters  home  for  the  disabled  ; 
distributing  mails ;  and  generally  in  looking  after  the  phys- 
ical, mental  and  moral  welfare  of  those  who  were  unable  by 
reason  of  the  hard  life  of  an  active  army,  or  want  of  knowl- 
edge, or  carelessness,  or  any  other  cause,  to  do  such  things 
for  themselves.  Our  chaplain  was  always  active  and  effi- 
cient in  these  lines.  His  pioneer  life  in  the  early  days  of 


JUST    BEFORE   THE    MARCH    TO    THE   SEA  2$ I 

Wisconsin  especially  fitted  him  for  these  duties.  Unlike  a 
great  many  other  army  chaplains,  he  endured  to  the  end  and 
was  with  us  when  the  regiment  was  finally  mustered  out  in 
June,  1865. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA 

The  army  leaving  Kingston,  November  12, 1864,  going  over  the  same  old 
route  to  Atlanta — Marietta  burned — Railroad  destroyed — Atlanta 
burning  when  army  started  across  Georgia,  November  ijth — Size 
of  army — Its  impedimenta — How  it  subsisted — The  line  of  march 
— Large  number  of  colored  people  followed  in  its  wake — Decem- 
ber nth,  formed  line  near  Savannah — City  occupied  by  troops 
under  Hardee  who  resisted  our  entry  until  December  2oth,  and 
then  marched  away  unhurt — Savannah  described. 

WE  moved  from  Kingston  on  the  1 2th  day  of  November, 
1864,  going  over  much  of  the  same  ground  between  that 
and  Atlanta,  over  which  we  had  fought  during  the  preceding 
summer.  The  railroad  was  entirely  destroyed  between  there 
and  Atlanta.  The  men  soon  became  experts  in  that  line  of 
work.  The  march  was  by  way  of  Cartersville,  Alatoona, 
Ackworth,  and  Big  Shanty.  On  the  1 3th,  three  men  were 
wounded  by  railroad  iron  falling  on  them.  On  November 
1 4th,  we  marched  from  Big  Shanty  to  the  Chattahoochee 
River,  on  the  east  side  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  by  way  of 
Marietta,  where  Major  Walker  met  us  with  the  recruits  from 
the  Tenth  Wisconsin.  All  the  principal  buildings  around 
the  public  square  in  this  town  were  burning  as  we  passed. 
General  Sherman  was  standing  looking  on.  When  we  ar- 
rived at  Atlanta  on  the  i5th,  that  city  was  burning  also, 
and  continued  to  burn  all  that  night.  We  started  towards 
the  east  before  daylight,  on  the  morning  of  November  i6th, 

232 


THE    MARCH    TO   THE   SEA  233 

with  the  blazing  fires  of  that  doomed  city  behind  us  to 
light  us  on  our  way. 

From  the  first  eminence  reached  before  daylight,  I  turned 
my  horse's  head  back  to  the  city,  and  sat  perfectly  still 
watching  the  magnificent  but  lurid  spectacle.  My  thoughts 
ran  somewhat  thus : 

"  The  meaning  of  this  fire  to  us  is  one  thing,  but  to  the 
enemy  it  has  an  entirely  different  meaning.  To  us  it  is  the 
emblem  of  victory — to  them,  a  dragon  devouring  their 
vitals;  to  us  it  is  the  light  of  promise — to  them  the  de- 
vourer  of  hope ;  to  us,  it  is  a  pillar  of  fire  guiding  our  arms 
through  the  wilderness  to  a  peaceful  Canaan — to  them,  a 
flame  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  War  is  made  up  of  cruelty 
and  destruction.  It  destroys  in  a  night  what  it  took  years 
of  peaceful  industry  to  construct." 

Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  "Principles  of  Sociology,"  says: 

"  War,  of  necessity,  cultivates  deception  ;  ambush,  ma- 
neuvring,  feints,  and  the  like  involve  acted  lies ;  the  disci- 
pline of  war,  being  a  discipline  in  destruction  of  life,  is  a 
discipline  in  callousness.  Whatever  sympathies  exist,  are 
seared  and  any  that  tend  to  grow  are  checked." 

Yet,  he  argues  that  wars  have  been  necessary  in  the  evo- 
lution of  nations  in  their  present  status.  We  certainly  could 
not  avoid  this  war.  We  could  not  allow  our  government  to 
be  peaceably  divided  and  the  other  half  set  up  next  door  to 
us,  as  the  only  government  on  the  globe  organized  to  per- 
petuate human  slavery.  That  would  be  more  cruel  in  its 
results  than  war.  If  there  ever  was  a  justifiable  war  on  the 
part  of  the  Union,  this  one  was. 


234  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

During  the  campaign  to  the  sea,  I  find  that  I  kept  a  diary 
of  the  march  and  the  appearance  of  the  country.  It  was 
kept  in  a  book  convenient  for  the  pocket,  presented  to  me 
by  Colonel  Von  Schroeder,  the  inspector-general  of  the 
fourteenth  corps.  I  wrote  no  letters  until  arriving  at  Savan- 
nah. The  march  was  so  peaceful  and  leisurely  that  ample 
time  was  given  for  writing  an  itinerary.  I  have  that  diary 
now,  and  think  very  much  of  it,  as  the  only  one  I  have  ever 
succeeded  in  keeping  for  so  long  a  time,  and  also  jji  memory 
of  my  friend,  Colonel  Von  Schroeder.  We  seemed  to  aver- 
age about  fifteen  miles  a  day  through  a  high  rolling,  sandy, 
heavily  wooded  country,  not  thickly  peopled  by  any  means. 
The  farms,  called  plantations,  were  numerous  enough,  and 
hitherto  were  remote  enough  from  army  visitation,  to  furnish 
ample  forage  and  provisions  for  the  wants  of  our  army.  It 
was  a  land  of  poultry  and  sweet  potatoes.  The  actual  size 
of  the  army  that  left  Atlanta  was  63,680  men.  Its  trans- 
portation consisted  of  14,468  horses,  19,410  mules,  2,520 
wagons,  and  440  ambulances.  Our  regiment  had  one  of 
these  wagons.  In  the  ammunition  train,  however,  we  had 
one  wagon  for  every  one  hundred  men.  The  supply  train 
started  with  only  four  days'  grain,  but  had  twenty  days'  of 
hard  bread  and  thirty  days'  of  coffee  and  sugar.  General 
Jefferson  C.  Davis,  who  commanded  our  corps,  had  serious 
misgivings  about  the  shortness  of  the  rations,  carried  in  the 
wagons.  The  first  day  out,  he  watched  the  foragers  pretty 
closely  to  see  whether  the  country  was  going  to  furnish  suffi- 
cient to  make  up  the  deficiency ;  but  when  he  saw  the  sol- 
diers scorn  to  take  red  sweet  potatoes  from  the  covered 


THE    MARCH    TO    THE   SEA  235 

mounds  of  them  in  the  fields  and  hunt  for  white  ones,  he 
gave  himself  no  further  concern  about  the  supplies.  The 
result  proved  that  his  fears  were  groundless.  The  army  was 
perhaps  never  so  well  fed  as  on  that  march.  As  showing 
how  the  animals  were  fed,  Chief  Quartermaster  L.  C. 
Easton,  in  his  report,  said:  "The  army  subsisted  on  the 
country  twenty-nine  days,  which  makes  at  least  11,000,- 
ooo  pounds  of  grain  and  15,000,000  pounds  of  hay  and 
fodder,  taken  from  the  country  and  consumed  on  the  march." 
The  four  corps  covered  a  space  of  fifty  miles  wide  and 
marched  three  hundred  miles  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah. 
This  is  a  section  of  15,000  square  miles  of  the  best  part  of 
Georgia.  The  first  day's  march  was  twenty  miles  to  Ly- 
thonia.  General  Sherman  rode  this  first  day  with  our  corps. 
The  next  day,  November  lyth,  we  reached  the  Oconee 
River,  passing  through  Conyers  which  was  full  of  women 
and  children.  The  next  day  we  passed  through  Covington. 
Some  rebel  papers  which  fell  into  our  hands  stated  that 
Lincoln  was  elected  President  at  an  election  held  on  No- 
vember 6th. 

We  marched  steadily  towards  Milledgeville  and  entered 
the  city  November  23d.  The  diary  says,  "  A  house  and 
barn  on  a  plantation  owned  by  Howell  Cobb  were  burned. 
The  country  becomes  beautiful  as  Milledgeville  is  ap- 
proached, surface  rolling,  soil  sandy  but  productive,  fine 
farms,  poor  buildings  and  plenty  of  water.  There  were 
plenty  of  sheep,  hogs,  and  sweet  potatoes."  We  left  Mil- 
ledgeville November  24th,  marching  northeast.  The  record 
says,  "Planters  not  very  baronial  on  this  road."  All  day 


236  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

on  the  26th,  we  were  detained  by  Kilpatrick's  train  moving 
on  our  road,  he  having  gone  with  his  troopers  to  Millen, 
about  one  hundred  miles  north,  to  release  the  Union  prison- 
ers confined  there.  We  pointed  steadily  east,  passing  in  the 
next  few  days  through  Sandersville,  Davisboro,  Louisville, 
and  crossed  the  Ogeechee  River,  November  zpth.  "  Satur- 
day, December  3d,  marched  in  every  conceivable  direction 
all  day,  and  at  night  went  into  camp  near  Lumpkin."  (I 
carried  a  pocket  compass.)  "  Heard  to-day  that  Grant  en- 
tered Richmond,  a  week  ago." 

December  4th,  it  says,  "  Nineteen  days  from  Atlanta,  but 
five  days'  hard  bread  have  been  used.  The  army  has  sub- 
sisted entirely  on  the  country.  Last  night  and  this  morning 
heard  artillery  towards  Waynesboro,  the  first  on  the  cam- 
paign, except  a  little  towards  Macon  the  first  day.  A  large 
number  of  negroes,  principally  women,  have  been  allowed 
to  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  army.  They  were  kept  back 
of  a  certain  pontoon  bridge,  and  left  until  the  bridge  was 
taken  up.  The  poor  creatures  tried  to  swim  and  five  women 
were  drowned.  It  is  not  certain  by  whose  orders  they  were 
left."  This  was  an  act  of  cruelty  and  was  reported  to  Mr. 
Stanton,  the  Secretary  of  War.  Whether  he  fastened  the 
responsibility  on  any  particular  officer,  I  do  not  know.  The 
diary  says  in  one  place,  "  There  seems  to  be  scarcely  any 
fruit  raised  in  Georgia,  and  no  Irish  potatoes. "  "Decem- 
ber 6th.  We  are  fifty  miles  from  Savannah  to-night.  A 
day  or  two  since,  some  men  of  the  brigade  found 
buried  in  a  pot  in  the  woods  (so  the  story  was  told)  near 
Lumpkin,  about  $200,000  in  Confederate  money.  Many 


THE    MARCH    TO   THE   SEA  237 

of  the  men  are  playing  chuck-a-luck  with  it  at  $500  an 
ante. ' ' 

"December  yth — Savannah  River  has  been  close  on  our 
left  all  day.  Went  into  line  of  battle  on  the  8th,  facing  to 
the  rear,  the  cavalry  being  pressed  by  Wheeler.  On  De- 
cember nth,  encamped  in  line  of  battle  on  the  Ogeechee 
Canal,  four  miles  from  Savannah.  Can  hear  occasional  shots 
in  direction  of  Savannah  River  below  city,  supposed  to  be 
Farragut  firing  on  Fort  Jackson.  There  is  a  rebel  battery 
within  half  a  mile  of  our  position.  Rice  in  straw  the  only 
feed  for  horses  now.  Tuesday,  December  i3th  at  4 :  30  p.  M., 
second  division  fifteenth  army  corps  took  Fort  McAllister  on 
the  Ogeechee  and  thus  opened  communication  with  the  navy, 
two  days  less  than  one  month  from  time  of  starting  from  At- 
lanta. During  the  night,  twenty- seven  men  came  into  our 
brigade  lines.  They  had  been  Union  prisoners,  and  had 
enlisted  in  rebel  service  in  order  to  be  released  from  confine- 
ment, and  then  deserted." 

On  December  i5th,  I  wrote  the  following  letter : 

/ 

"  Do  you  begin  to  think  you  will  never  hear  from  me? 
Having  gone  down  like  a  lost  river  in  the  earth,  I  suppose 
you  have  been  watching  for  this  army  to  come  to  the  surface 
again.  Day  before  yesterday,  the  fifteenth  corps  took  Fort 
McAllister,  thus  opening  communication  with  the  fleet,  and 
now  at  i :  30  p.  M.,  I  am  informed  that  a  mail  wagon  will 
leave  brigrade  headquarters  at  3:  oo,  so  you  see  that  I  have 
no  time  to  write  all  the  long  pages  that  I  intended.  I  can 
at  least  say  that  our  expedition  has  been  the  most  remarka- 
ble one  on  record  "  (this  is  a  doubtful  statement),  "not  for 
the  fighting  done,  but  for  the  entire  absence  of  resistance  to 
the  march,  and  the  wonderful  fact  that  we  found  more  for 
both  man  and  beast  than  we  could  possibly  devour.  We 


238  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

have  all  grown  fat,  and  until  now  our  division  has  not  come 
in  contact  with  the  enemy.  We  are  surrounding  the  city  of 
Savannah,  and  will  undoubtedly  take  it.  I  am  very  well,  in- 
deed, and  am  really  glad  the  regiment  came  on  this  expedi- 
tion." (It  will  be  remembered  that  we  tried  to  have  the 
twenty- first  regiment  ordered  to  remain  at  Chattanooga.) 
"  We  are  now  beginning  to  be  short  of  rations,  because  noth- 
ing but  rice  can  be  found  around  here,  but  the  fleet  will  fur- 
nish us.  How  anxiously  I  await  a  letter  from  you,  having 
received  nothing  since  leaving  home  (October  24,  1864). 
We  know  nothing  about  the  North,  except  what  we  have 
learned  from  rebel  papers  and  the  inhabitants  of  this  country. 
I  suppose  that  Lincoln  is  elected  and  that  Congress  is  in  ses- 
sion. Do  write  me  immediately,  and  send  me  some  papers." 

There  were  many  remarkable  features  about  this  march 
across  Georgia  as  stated  above,  not  the  least  of  which  was 
that  the  highest  rebel  commanders  in  Savannah  did  not 
know,  and  would  not  believe  the  reports  of  their  own  officers, 
that  Sherman  was  coming  with  an  army  of  60,000  troops. 
When  we  were  within  fifteen  miles  of  Savannah,  an  officer 
reported  to  General  Hardee,  and  to  General  Beauregard  who 
had  come  to  Savannah  from  Charleston  at  that  time,  that 
Sherman  was  there  with  a  large  army.  These  officers  laughed 
at  the  statement  and  did  not  believe  it.  This  is  very  won- 
derful, considering  that  our  army  had  marched  through  the 
enemy's  country  and  Hardee  could  easily  have  learned  the 
facts  from  the  inhabitants  without  much  effort. 

The  next  letter  is  as  follows : 

"  Near  Savannah,  Ga., 

"  December  18,  1864. 

"  Yesterday  came  the  mail  for  the  first  time,  and  with  it 
two  letters.  One  of  these  contained  the  notice  of  Colonel 
Sweet  but  this  mail  brought  us  also  a  fuller  notice  of  the 


THE    MARCH   TO   THE   SEA  2  39 

conspiracy,  and  also  some  fine  compliments  to  the  colonel — 
one  from  Secretary  of  War.  But  such  things  will  come  to  a 
strong  and  true  manhood  like  Sweet's.  I  had  just  finished 
a  letter  to  him  before  the  mail  arrived,  and  now  I  shall  open 
it,  and  put  in  something  congratulatory."  (This  has  refer- 
ence to  the  Chicago  conspiracy,  heretofore  referred  to.  The 
journals  of  the  day  were  full  of  it,  and  Colonel  Sweet  was 
highly  eulogized.) 

This  letter  of  December  i8th,  was  a  long  one,  but  little  of 
it  is  of  interest  now.  Here  is  a  specimen  paragraph : 

"Everything  here  is  perfectly  quiet  at  present.  We  sit 
looking  at  the  enemy  who  is  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
swamp.  Colonel  Hobart  has  just  been  here,  and  ordered 
me  to  find  out  all  about  my  front — what  kind  of  works  the 
enemy  has  and  how  they  run.  I  told  him  I  would  as  soon 
as  the  fog  rose,  which  means  when  I  write  this  letter." 

The  "  March  to  the  Sea  "  was  simply  a  change  of  base  for 
our  army.  It  was  not  nearly  as  important,  from  a  military 
point  of  view,  as  the  campaign  immediately  succeeding  it 
through  the  Carolinas.  Yet  these  two  campaigns  were  viewed 
then  by  the  press  and  the  people  of  the  country,  and  they 
are  still  held  by  the  masses,  in  the  inverse  order  of  their  im- 
portance. The  march  to  the  sea  was  reckoned  by  Sherman 
as  one,  while  that  through  the  Carolinas  as  ten,  or  perfect. 
Yet,  the  former  lives  in  song  and  poetry  as  the  romance  of 
war,  somewhat  as  Hooker's  battle  above  the  clouds,  or  Sheri- 
dan's ride  from  Winchester,  or  the  Charge  of  the  Light  Bri- 
gade at  Balaklava.  The  masses  prefer  the  fever  of  romance 
to  the  good  health  of  solid  facts. 

A  staff  officer  of  the  brigade  came  to  me  on  the  morning  of 
December  2ist,  and  said  the  information  was  that  the  enemy 


24O  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

had  left  our  front.  I  sent  forward  the  skirmishers,  followed 
by  two  companies  who  quickly  occupied  the  fort  in  our  front. 
They  found  two  brass  twelve-pound  howitzers,  spiked  and 
the  wheels  cut.  I  conjectured  that  the  city  must  be  evacu- 
ated because  the  guns  were  left,  and  pushed  forward  the 
regiment  a  mile  farther  to  a  farmhouse.  Here  a  deserter 
came  to  us  and  said  he  had  no  doubt  that  the  city  was 
evacuated.  I  at  once  besieged  Colonel  Hobart  to  allow  me 
to  move  towards  the  city,  and  if  the  enemy  was  gone,  to 
enter.  He  finally  assented,  but  too  late.  After  moving 
rapidly  two  miles  on  the  main  road,  the  head  of  the  fifteenth 
corps  had  a  minute  before  passed  and  filled  the  road.  So 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  countermarch.  Next  morning 
under  orders,  we  marched  in,  but  a  day  after  the  other  corps. 
A  large  amount  of  artillery  was  found  in  the  works.  Our 
brigade  was  credited  with  twelve  pieces.  Nearly  all  the  in- 
habitants seemed  to  have  remained.  It  is  said  that  even  the 
ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs  when  the  Union  boys  first 
came  in.  That  was  unusual.  Pulaski's  monument  here  is 
a  conspicuous  object.  The  city  is  full  of  beautiful  little 
parks.  This  monument  is  in  one  of  them.  Pulaski  fell  at 
the  siege  of  Savannah,  by  the  British,  in  1779.  On  Christ- 
mas day,  I  dined  with  Colonel  Hobart. 

Sherman  finds  many  of  the  men  shoeless,  without  hats, 
and  shabby.  But  the  firm  step  of  the  triumphant  army 
through  the  streets  of  the  city  in  review,  showed  that  they 
were  not  hungry  nor  emaciated.  They  had  lived  well,  taken 
care  of  their  muskets  and  "kept  the  powder  dry. "  The 
streets  were  full  of  colored  people.  One  woman  said, 


THE    MARCH    TO    THE   SEA  24! 

"Massa  run  me  away  from  de  Yank  for  tre  year,  but  dey 
got  me  now."  Middle  aged  gentlemen  stood  on  their 
marble  steps,  mothers  looked  out  of  the  lower  story  windows, 
while  modest  maidens  peeped  through  the  curtains  up-stairs. 
The  church  bells  of  the  city  rang  on  Christmas  day,  with  the 
same  tone  to  rebel  and  yankee.  They,  at  least,  knew  no 
north  and  no  south. 

The  Spanish  moss  that  festooned  the  trees  around  Savan- 
nah was  very  curious  to  us.  It  looks  as  if  it  had  been 
caught  by  the  limbs  in  a  wind-storm.  Moses  Ladd,  a 
Menominee  Indian,  member  of  Company  B,  cut  me  a  pipe 
from  a  sweetbrier  root.  The  root  was  dug  from  the  side 
of  the  Ogeechee  Canal,  where  our  regiment  lay  in  line.  It 
was  beautifully  carved. 

The  chaplain  who  went  to  Wisconsin  with  the  money  of 
the  men  from  Kingston,  Ga.,  returned  by  ocean  steamer, 
here.  He  says  he  was  at  the  ladies'  fair  in  Chicago,  when 
the  ladies  presented  Colonel  B.  J.  Sweet  with  a  $1,000  bond 
for  his  suppression  of  the  conspiracy. 

While  lying  at  Savannah,  the  army  passed  in  review 
through  the  streets  before  General  Sherman  and  Secretary 
of  War  Stanton,  who  had  come  down  from  Washington  for 
the  purpose.  In  this  review,  which  occurred  on  December 
27,  1864,  our  regiment  carried  368  muskets.  There  were 
nineteen  officers.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Sherman,  in 
a  dispatch,  presented  Lincoln  the  city  as  a  Christmas  gift. 
Colonel  H.  C.  Hobart  who  commanded  the  brigade  on  the 
march  was  breveted  brigadier-general.  I  was  detailed  as  a 
wing  commander,  my  wing  of  the  brigade  being  composed 


242  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  Major  C.  H.  Walker ;  One 
Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois,  Major  Widmer,  and  the 
Forty-second  Indiana,  Major  Kellams. 

From  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  the  regiment  had  only  one 
wagon,  but  a  lot  of  pack  animals.  Each  regiment  fed  itself 
by  detailing  a  permanent  foraging  party,  who  would  start  an 
hour  or  two  ahead  of  the  regiment  and  bring  supplies  to  the 
roadside  in  the  evening,  to  be  distributed  when  the  regi- 
ment should  arrive.  Each  forager  mounted  himself.  These 
"bummers,"  as  they  were  called,  not  only  constituted  the 
commissariat  of  the  army,  but  the  advance-guard,  rear- 
guard, and  skirmishers.  They  were  always  well  armed, 
and  surrounded  the  army  like  a  cloud,  giving  alarm  in  case 
of  danger,  and  in  nearly  every  emergency,  being  able  to 
repulse  any  ordinary  cavalry  rangers.  Occasionally  one 
would  wander  beyond  support,  and  get  captured,  but  I 
think  very  few  casualties  occurred  compared  with  the  great 
host  of  them.  Cora  and  corn-blades  were  plentiful  for  the 
horses  and  mules. 

It  was  pleasant  to  be  in  camp  around  the  beautiful  city 
of  Savannah  at  that  time  of  the  year,  and  in  that  southern 
climate.  The  campaign  had  not  been  tedious  nor  weari- 
some, but  on  the  contrary,  the  most  pleasant  I  ever  ex- 
perienced. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  CAROLINA  CAMPAIGN 

The  fourteenth  corps  left  Savannah,  January  20,  1865 — The  place  of 
the  twenty-first,  then  in  the  Army  of  Georgia,  and  its  roster 
of  officers — Crossed  the  Savannah  River  February  4th  at  Sister's 
Ferry — The  fourteenth  corps  continued  as  the  left  of  the  army — 
Did  not  enter  Columbia,  marched  to  the  west  and  north  of  it — 
Rapid  description  of  the  march  to  Fayetteville,  N.  C. — Hardee's 
forces  found  occupying  Fayetteville — The  Battle  of  Averysboro, 
March  i6th,  and  Bentonville,  March  igth. 

THE  fourteenth  corps  left  Savannah  on  the  zoth  of  Janu- 
ary, 1865,  by  the  Louisville  road,  which  ran  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Savannah  River,  thus  forming  the  extreme  left 
of  the  Army  of  Georgia.  The  first,  second,  and  third, — 
red,  white,  and  blue  divisions  of  this  corps,  were  com- 
manded respectively,  by  Brigadier-General  Carlin,  Brigadier- 
General  Morgan,  Brevet  Major-General  Baird;  the  first, 
second  and  third  brigades  of  the  first  division,  by  Brevet 
Brigadier-General  Harrison  C.  Hobart,  Brevet  Brigadier- 
General  George  Buell,  and  Colonel  Miles.  The  twenty-first 
was  part  of  the  first  brigade,  first  division,  fourteenth  army 
corps,  left  wing,  Army  of  Georgia. 

The  twenty-first  organization  then  stood  as  follows : 

Lieutenant-colonel — Michael  H.  Fitch. 

Major — Charles  H.  Walker. 

Surgeon — James  T.  Reeve. 

Adjutant — J.  Howard  Jenkins. 
243 


244  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL    WAR 

Quartermaster — S.  H.  Fernandez. 

Chaplain — Orson  P.  Clinton. 

Hospital  steward — Edward  H.  Gould. 

Commissary  sergeant — George  T.  Burns. 

Company  A — Captain,  Hiram  K.  Edwards ;  second  lieu- 
tenant, Watson  Cook. 

Company  B — Captain,  James  E.  Stuart;  first  lieutenant, 
Edgar  Vredenburgh ;  second  lieutenant,  Edward  Dorien. 

Company  C — Captain,  William  Wall ;  first  lieutenant, 
Robert  W.  Jackson ;  second  lieutenant,  Hubbard. 

Company  D — Captain,  Henry  Turner ;  first  lieutenant, 
J.  Henry  Otto  ;  second  lieutenant,  Lyman  C.  Waite. 

Company  E — Captain,  Fred  W.  Borcherdt;  first  lieu- 
tenant, Weston;  second  lieutenant,  Henry  Hansen. 

Company  F — Captain,  Milton  Ewen ;  first  lieutenant, 
Charles  H.  Morgan ;  second  lieutenant,  Ambrose  S.  Dela- 
ware. 

Company  G — Captain,  James  M.  Randall ;  first  lieu- 
tenant, William  Watson  ;  second  lieutenant,  Burnham. 

Company  H — First  lieutenant,  Edward  T.  Midgeley; 
second  lieutenant,  B.  French  Fuller. 

Company  I — Captain,  Albert  B.  Bradish ;  first  lieutenant, 
C.  B.  Clark ;  second  lieutenant,  Gustavus  Jaeger. 

Company  K — Captain,  Joseph  La  Count ;  first  lieutenant, 
John  E.  Davies. 

Of  these,  Adjutant  Jenkins,  Captain  Ewen,  Lieutenants 
Morgan,  Weston  and  Hansen  were  prisoners  in  Libby 
Prison  since  Chickamauga ;  Captain  William  Wall  was  ab- 
sent in  Wisconsin  ;  Captains  Turner  and  La  Count  were  on 


THE    CAROLINA    CAMPAIGN  245 

duty  in  General  Thomas'  department  in  Tennessee ;  Lieu- 
tenant Delaware  was  detached  and  on  duty  as  signal  officer; 
Lieutenant  Watson  was  at  home  on  leave  of  absence,  having 
been  recently  exchanged  from  Libby  Prison. 

The  weather  was  rainy  and  cold.  We  did  not  reach 
Sister's  Ferry,  our  crossing  place,  until  the  28th.  On  ac- 
count of  high  water  and  mud  and  rain,  our  brigade  did  not 
cross  the  river  into  South  Carolina  until  February  4th. 
Supplies  were  brought  up  the  river  to  this  point  by  boats. 
The  men  and  wagons  received  them  here  and  the  commis- 
sary train  was  loaded  for  the  rest  of  the  campaign  ;  at  least 
until  Fayetteville,  or  the  Cape  Fear  River  was  reached.  Ar- 
rived at  Lawtonville  on  the  yth.  My  memorandum  says, 
"  The  foragers  brought  in  three  rebel  soldiers  who  were  now 
home  on  furlough.  The  plantations  about  here  are  very 
large,  the  houses  finely  furnished.  The  negroes  tell  the 
most  doleful  stories  of  cruel  treatment.  The  houses  gen- 
erally are  abandoned.  Pork,  sweet  potatoes  and  chickens 
plentiful." 

I  noticed  that  when  we  marched  without  interruption,  we 
made  about  eighteen  miles  a  day.  On  the  nth  February, 
we  marched  through  Barnwell,  towards  White  Pond,  across 
the  Salkehatche  River.  General  Kilpatrick  with  his  cavalry 
force  was  in  advance  and  kept  the  front  clear. 

At  White  Pond  we  tore  up  the  railway  from  there  to 
Windsor,  towards  Augusta.  On  the  march,  General  Baird's 
division  was  ahead  of  us.  At  a  forks  of  the  road,  an  offi- 
cer in  blue  directed  the  advance  guard  to  go  in  a  certain 
direction.  Upon  being  too  closely  questioned,  he  turned  to. 


246  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

flee,  when  the  men  shot  him.  He  had  on  a  rebel  uniform 
under  the  blue. 

Crossed  the  South  Edisto  on  the  ijth  towards  Columbia, 
and  next  day  marched  across  the  North  Edisto.  This  is  a 
sandy,  pine  bearing,  rolling  country. 

February  1510,  marched  at  right  angles  with  previous 
march  and  entered  Lexington,  South  Carolina,  at  8  p.  M. 
The  head  of  the  division  struck  the  enemy's  cavalry  to-day 
and  captured  two  men,  and  two  horses.  The  brigade  acted  as 
patrol  guard  at  Lexington.  From  there  we  moved  towards 
Columbia,  but  did  not  enter  the  city.  On  the  night  of  the 
i  yth,  we  were  twenty-two  miles  northwest  of  Columbia. 
Evidently  this  wing  of  the  army  had  taken  this  route  so  far 
north  and  west,  to  get  into  a  region  better  supplied  and  less 
ravaged  by  war.  It  proved  to  be  full  of  forage  for  both 
man  and  horse.  Mules  and  horses  were  captured  in  great 
numbers.  There  was  no  use  for  wagons  on  this  campaign. 
Everything,  even  ammunition,  could  have  been  carried  by 
pack  mules,  and  they  should  have  been  led  by  negroes. 
Each  division  could  be  preceded  by  a  mounted  advance- 
guard,  and  at  least  a  hundred  negroes  with  axes,  all  under 
competent  officers.  Near  Winsboro,  Cornwallis  is  said  to 
have  once  had  his  headquarters  during  the  Revolution. 
General  Geary  occupied  Winsboro  with  his  division,  it  is 
a  fine  looking  town.  We  tore  up  five  miles  of  the  track  of 
the  Charlotte  &  Columbia  Railway. 

On  February  22d,  Captain  Milton  Ewen  and  Lieutenant 
Charles  H.  Morgan,  both  of  F  Company  came  into  the 
regiment.  They  had  been  prisoners  since  the  battle  of 


THE    CAROLINA    CAMPAIGN 

Chickamauga,  and  had  escaped  from  a  train  a  few  days  be- 
fore. On  the  23d,  we  reached  the  Catawba  River  at  Rocky 
Mount  post-office.  The  diary  said,  "We  seem  now  to  be 
marching  towards  the  coast."  We  had  a  hard  time  getting 
across  the  Catawba.  It  is  a  wide  river  at  this  point.  It 
rained  for  two  days  and  broke  the  pontoons. 

On  the  zyth,  a  foraging  party  of  our  brigade  was  attacked 
about  six  miles  from  camp.  They  escaped  with  the  mules 
but  left  the  wagons  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  I  went  out 
with  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  and  the  Thirty-third  Ohio, 
recovered  the  wagons,  and  took  two  prisoners  and  two 
horses.  I  gave  Lieutenant  Morgan  one  of  the  horses  to 
ride  and  detailed  him  as  staff  officer.  By  reason  of  his 
long  imprisonment  he  was  weak  and  emaciated.  At  this 
crossing,  the  rebels  hovered  around  on  the  hills,  but  made 
no  serious  attack.  The  firing  became  quite  lively  at  the 
last  when  only  a  skirmish  line  remained  to  cross.  The 
bridge  was  taken  up  after  dark  and  the  rear-guard  brought 
over  in  boats. 

After  crossing  the  Catawba,  we  marched  almost  directly 
towards  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina,  crossing  the  Great 
Peedee  River  and  coming  near  Chesterfield,  entered  North 
Carolina  north  of  that  town.  Here  we  struck  the  turpen- 
tine and  tar  region,  passing  through  miles  of  pine  woods, 
the  trees  being  tapped  like  sugar  trees  in  New  England. 
Everything  was  blackened  by  the  smoke  from  the  burning 
pines  and  turpentine  mills.  March  loth,  Kilpatrick  and  a 
part  of  his  cavalry  were  surprised  before  daylight,  three 
miles  north  of  us,  and  two  hundred  were  captured.  Kil, 


248  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

patrick  escaped.  General  Baird's  division  preceded  us  into 
Fayetteville  situated  on  the  Cape  Fear  River.  Hardee's 
forces  moved  out  across  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and  burnt 
the  bridges,  as  our  forces  entered.  It  is  a  beautiful  little 
city  of  about  10,000  inhabitants,  125  miles  northwest 
of  Wilmington,  sixty  from  Goldsboro  and  sixty  from 
Raleigh.  Communication  was  soon  opened  with  Wilming- 
ton by  the  river,  and  on  March  i4th,  three  boats  came 
up.  We  sent  out  the  first  mail  since  leaving  Sister's  Ferry. 
On  the  east  side  of  the  Cape  Fear  River  at  Fayetteville,  we 
found  considerable  earthworks  made  by  rebels  for  defense 
from  the  seacoast.  The  enemy  who  made  these  works 
little  thought  that  they  would  be  taken  from  the  west. 

We  left  Fayetteville  March  i5th,  crossing  to  the  east  side 
of  the  river  going  towards  Goldsboro.  The  next  day  at 
Averysboro,  we  formed  line  of  battle  in  presence  of  the 
enemy,  and  had  two  men  of  A  Company  wounded.  Some 
other  troops  of  Slocum's  wing  had  quite  a  fight  here.  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  since  leaving  Fayetteville  rode  with  this  wing 
until  the  morning  of  the  ipth  of  March  near  Bentonville. 

I  said  in  my  diary,  "  Rebs  must  have  retreated  towards 
Raleigh."  This  was  said  on  the  i8th.  But  the  following 
pages  will  show  what  a  mistake  this  was. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  BENTONVILLE 

Let  us  make  a  short  retrospect.  On  the  morning  of  the 
igth  of  March,  1865,  our  army  was  in  eastern  North 
Carolina  between  the  Cape  Fear  and  the  Neuse  Rivers,  in 
longitude  78"  west  of  Greenwich,  almost  directly  south  of, 


THE    CAROLINA    CAMPAIGN  249 

and  1 80  miles  from  General  Grant's  army  at  Petersburg, 
Va.  On  the  i6th  of  the  preceding  November,  it  had  left 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  in  longitude  85°,  marched  through  Milledge- 
ville  to  Savannah,  where  it  rested,  reclothed,  and  then 
turned  north  through  South  Carolina.  It  had  recently 
crossed  the  Cape  Fear  River  at  Fayetteville,  N.  C.,  turned 
north  as  far  as  Averysboro,  where  on  March  i6th,  it  met  a 
little  stronger  enemy  than  usual — Hardee's  army  from 
Charleston,  but  had  no  difficulty  in  brushing  it  out  of  the 
way.  Had  it  kept  on  in  the  direction  it  had  marched  from 
Fayetteville  to  Averysboro,  it  would  have  reached  Raleigh  in 
a  short  time.  But  the  twenty-third  corps,  General  John  M. 
Schofield  commanding,  had  been  sent  by  water  to  Newburn 
and  from  there  by  rail  to  Goldsboro,  expressly  to  meet  and 
support  Sherman's  army;  and  General  Terry,  with  his  com- 
mand, the  tenth  corps,  had  also  come  to  Cox's  Bridge  from 
Wilmington  and  laid  a  pontoon  for  Sherman  to  cross  the 
Neuse  River  on  his  way  to  Goldsboro,  where  the  united 
armies  could  form  a  new  base,  rest  again  as  Sherman  did  at 
Savannah,  reclothe,  and  again  sally  forth  upon  the  rear  of 
Lee's  fast  dwindling  forces,  by  way  of  Raleigh. 

On  this  bright  morning  of  March  igih,  Sherman's  army 
was  within  twenty-two  miles  of  Cox's  Bridge,  and  expected 
to  march  the  most  of  the  distance  that  day.  But  history 
says  it  was  several  days  making  that  distance.  Sherman's 
army  was  divided  into  two  wings  of  two  corps  each.  The 
right  wing  under  command  of  General  O.  O.  Howard,  was 
made  up  of  the  fifteenth  and  seventeenth  corps;  the  left 
wing  uncjer  General  H,  W.  Slocum,  of  the  fourteenth  and 


25O  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

twentieth  corps.  These  wings  marched  far  apart  on  parallel 
roads.  At  this  particular  time,  the  first  and  second  divi- 
sions of  the  fourteenth  corps  were  on  the  main  road  from 
Averysboro  to  Goldsboro,  the  first  division,  commanded  by 
General  W.  P.  Carlin,  in  advance  and  rapidly  approaching 
Bentonville,  a  little  hamlet  about  half-way  between  Fayette- 
ville  and  Goldsboro.  These  two  divisions  numbered  about 
8,000  soldiers.  About  eight  miles  in  the  rear  of  them  were 
two  divisions  of  the  twentieth  corps,  beyond  an  almost  im- 
passable swamp.  The  remaining  divisions  of  the  left  wing 
were  still  farther  in  the  rear,  bringing  up  the  wagons  and 
impedimenta.  General  Howard's  wing  was  perhaps  fifteen 
to  twenty  miles  to  the  south  on  parallel  roads,  but  marching 
to  the  same  point,  viz.  :  Cox's  Bridge.  General  Sherman, 
who  had  been  riding  with  the  left  wing  for  some  days,  with 
General  Slocum  and  General  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  who  commanded 
the  fourteenth  corps,  sat  on  his  horse  by  the  roadside  chat- 
ting and  watching  the  troops  move  away  at  right  shoulder 
shift.  The  foragers,  whom  we  called  "  bummers,"  and  the 
cavalry  had  gone  ahead.  An  occasional  shot  from  the  front 
could  be  heard.  The  farmer  at  whose  house  General  Car- 
lin had  made  his  headquarters  the  night  before  had  said  he 
was  afraid  a  battle  would  be  fought  near  there,  but  as  he 
could  not  or  would  not  give  any  good  reason  for  his  fear,  it 
was  unheeded.  General  A.  C.  McClurg,  chief  of  staff  of  the 
fourteenth  corps,  afterwards  writing  of  that  group,  as  they 
sat  thus  on  their  horses,  said,  "Something  impressed  the 
soldierly  instincts  of  General  Davis  with  the  belief  that  he 
was  likely  to  encounter  more  than  the  usual  cavalry  opposi- 


THE    CAROLINA    CAMPAIGN  251 

tion,  and  he  said  as  much  to  General  Sherman.  The  latter, 
after  listening  attentively  a  moment  or  two,  replied  in  his 
usual  brisk,  nervous  and  positive  way,  '  No,  Jeff,  there  is 
nothing  there  but  Dibbrell's  cavalry — brush  them  out  of  the 
way.  Good-morning — I'll  meet  you  to-morrow  morning  at 
Cox's  Bridge.'  And  away  he  rode  with  his  slender  staff,  to 
join  Howard  and  the  right  wing."  It  turned  out  that  three 
days  yet  lay  between  us  and  Cox's  Bridge.  Now,  while 
General  Sherman  is  riding  away  from  the  field  of  coming 
battle  so  confidently  and  the  troops  are  moving  towards  Ben- 
tonville,  let  us  see  what  was  awaiting  them  in  front,  and 
how  unconsciously  they  were  marching  into  a  trap.  General 
Wade  Hampton,  who  on  the  i6th  of  January,  1865,  had 
been  assigned  to  the  command  of  all  the  cavalry  opposed  to 
Sherman,  in  an  article  written  long  after  for  the  Century 
Magazine  lays  bare  the  then  secret  movements  of  the  enemy. 
He  says,  "  Hardee  was  moving  towards  Fayetteville,  N.  C., 
Beauregard  was  directing  Stevenson's  march  to  Charlotte. 
Cheatham,  with  his  division  from  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
had  come  from  Augusta  and  was  moving  towards  the  same 
point  as  Stevenson,  while  the  cavalry  kept  in  close  observa- 
tion of  the  enemy.  It  was  from  these  widely  separated  forces 
that  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  this  department,  February  23,  1865,  had  to  form 
the  army  with  which  he  fought  the  battle  of  Bentonville,  and 
his  first  task  was  to  bring  together  these  detached  bodies  of 
troops.  Hoke's  fine  division  from  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  (Lee's  army),  also  joined  him  before  the  fight  and 
rendered  gallant  and  effective  service.  General  Johnston 


252  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

had  united  all  his  available  infantry  at  Smithfield,  N.  C., 
and  Sherman,  whose  progress  had  been  entirely  unobstructed, 
except  by  a  spirited  fight  at  Averysboro,  made  by  Hardee, 
and  some  affairs  with  our  cavalry,  was  moving  east  from 
Fayetteville  towards  Goldsboro.  The  confederate  cavalry 
was  bivouacked  about  two  miles  south  of  Bentonville  where 
the  road  from  Smithfield  intersected  that  from  Fayetteville 
to  Goldsboro." 

It  was  this  point  that  General  Johnston  selected  as  suita- 
ble for  a  crushing  blow  upon  the  detached  divisions  of  the 
fourteenth  corps.  That  night,  March  i8th,  General  John- 
ston reached  Bentonville  with  a  part  of  his  force  and  next 
morning,  the  ipth,  while  General  Sherman  was  riding  off  to 
join  Howard  far  away  to  the  south,  General  Hardee  was 
marching  on  to  the  field  with  his  troops.  General  Bragg, 
who  commanded  Hoke's  division,  had  already  formed  them 
across  the  road  on  which  Carlin's  division  was  moving.  The 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  under  Loring  was  on  the  right.  One 
division  of  Hardee's  went  still  to  Loring's  right,  and  the 
other  to  the  support  of  Bragg.  This  main  line  was  heavily 
intrenched.  Hampton  with  his  cavalry  was  formed  some 
distance  in  front  of  Bragg's  line  and  across  the  road.  Such 
was  the  situation  on  both  sides,  on  the  morning  of  the  igth 
of  March,  1865. 

The  same  old  enemy,  commanded  by  the  same  old  gener- 
als, which  the  fourteenth  corps  had  so  often  confronted  and 
defeated  in  the  far  west,  had  again  the  courage  to  stand  in 
this  last  ditch,  in  the  far  east,  as  a  forlorn  hope  for  a  wretched 
cause  already  lost,  For  Bragg  commanded  the  Confederate 


THE    CAROLINA    CAMPAIGN 

forces  at  Perryville,  Ky.,  in  the  battle  of  the  8th  of  October, 
1862,  in  which  my  regiment  and  nearly  all  the  troops  which 
afterwards  formed  the  fourteenth  corps,  were  engaged.  He 
retreated  from  the  field  at  Perryville,  closely  followed  by  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland  and  kept  on  retreating  south,  with 
a  stand  at  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga  (but  eventually 
always  moving  backward)  until  in  his  final  flight  over  the 
heights  of  Missionary  Ridge  he  disappeared  from  sight  and 
was  succeeded  by  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  who  now 
commanded  him  on  the  field  of  Bentonville.  So  Johnston 
had  retreated  before  the  Army  of  Sherman  in  the  Atlanta 
Campaign,  from  Buzzard's  Roost  to  Atlanta,  where  he  dis- 
appeared and  was  succeeded  by  Hood.  When  Sherman 
turned  his  back  upon  burning  Atlanta,  with  his  face  towards 
the  rising  sun,  he  occasionally  encountered  Wade  Hampton 
and  his  cavalry,  but  always  on  the  retreat.  These  retreat- 
ing and  defeated  soldiers  here  in  this  out-of-the-way  spot, 
stood  together  on  this  bright  spring  morning  to  make  one 
more,  and  a  final  thrust  at  their  old  and  unsuspecting  and 
always  victorious  enemy — a  thrust  that  hurt,  but  it  was  their 
last,  and  they  paid  dearly  for  their  temerity. 

Hobart's  brigade  of  the  first  division  of  the  fourteenth 
corps,  with  a  heavy  skirmish  line  to  the  front,  had  the 
advance.  It  was  composed  of  six  regiments — the  Twenty- 
first  Wisconsin,  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois,  Forty- 
second  and  Eighty-eighth  Indiana,  Thirty-third  and  Ninety- 
fourth  Ohio.  Unofficially,  this  brigade,  all  through  the 
campaign  on  the  march  to  the  sea,  and  in  the  Carolinas, 
had  been  divided  into  two  wings.  It  is  plain  why  Sher- 


254  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

man's  army  moved  so  rapidly  always.  It  had  so  many 
wings.  It  had  enough  wings  to  fly  through  the  air,  if  the 
foraging  had  been  as  good  up  there  as  it  was  on  the  earth. 

By  virtue  of  my  rank,  I  had  been  assigned  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  left  wing,  composed  of  the  Twenty-first  Wis- 
consin— which  was  my  own  regiment — the  Forty-second 
Indiana,  and  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois.  The 
three  other  regiments  formed  the  right  wing,  and  was  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Briant  of  the  Eighty-eighth 
Indiana.  The  latter  had  the  advance  and  soon  struck 
Hampton's  cavalry.  After  driving  them  some  distance,  the 
resistance  became  greater,  and  the  right  wing  was  deployed 
in  line  of  battle  with  the  left  wing  in  line  behind  it.  We 
advanced  in  this  order  for  some  distance  through  the  woods, 
when  I  received  an  order  to  halt,  and  the  right  wing  moved 
on  across  the  road,  and  the  brigade  commander  with  them. 
This  proved  to  be  the  last  time  I  saw  the  right  wing  or  the 
brigade  commander  for  that  day.  We  stood  here  in  the 
thick  undergrowth  of  the  woods  but  a  few  minutes  listening 
to  the  shots  in  front,  when  the  division  commander,  Gen- 
eral Carlin,  ordered  us  to  move  rapidly  to  the  front,  by  the 
right  of  companies  for  about  a  mile,  where  we  went  into 
line  of  battle,  and  threw  forward  a  heavy  line  of  skirmishers. 
These  latter  pushed  up  against  a  line  of  Confederate  in- 
trenchments.  A  section  of  the  First  Illinois  and  one  of  the 
Nineteenth  Indiana  batteries,  in  all  four  guns,  were  placed 
on  the  road  immediately  to  my  left,  and  I  was  told  that 
beyond  that  extended  to  the  left  the  second  or  Buell's  bri- 
gade of  our  division,  making  a  continuous  line  at  right 


THE    CAROLINA    CAMPAIGN  255 

angles  with  the  road.  We  were  then  facing  Hoke's  divi- 
sion, and  two  batteries  of  artillery  intrenched.  This  road 
ran  on  the  crest  of  a  slight  ridge.  From  our  position  on 
the  right  slope  of  this  ridge,  we  could  see  only  a  part  of 
the  battery,  and  nothing  beyond  it. 


CHAPTER  XX 
BENTONVILLE 

The  position  at  the  battle-field— The  left  wing  of  the  first  brigade 
under  command  of  the  author— Its  isolated  line  in  the  battle — 
The  irresistible  advance  of  the  enemy  at  right  angles  with  the 
Union  line — The  wing  falls  back  to  the  line  of  the  second  divi- 
sion (General  J.  D.  Morgan's)  and  forms  on  its  left — The  loss  of 
the  wing  in  this  battle — Criticism  of  the  tactics  of  the  first  division 
— What  Sherman  and  Kilpatrick  said  of  the  battle — The  author's 
official  report  of  the  battle. 

AN  attack  being  threatened  upon  the  right  of  my  posi- 
tion, the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois  was  sent  there 
and  in  taking  position  on  the  right  of  the  Forty-second 
Indiana,  ran  into  the  enemy.  This  made  that  the  point  of 
danger,  and  I,  therefore,  gave  my  chief  attention  in  that 
direction.  The  commander  of  the  left  company  of  the 
Twenty-first  Wisconsin  was  next  to  the  battery  on  the  road. 
He  said  that  occasionally  a  staff  officer  of  either  General 
Davis'  or  General  Slocum's  would  ride  up  the  road,  stop  at 
the  line,  look  wisely  towards  the  front,  and  say,  "What 
regiment  is  this?  "  "  The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin."  "Why 
don't  you  move  on,  there  is  nothing  but  cavalry  there." 
But  just  then,  an  artillery  shot  or  a  few  minnie  balls  would 
whistle  about  his  horse,  and  he  would  go  to  the  rear.  The 
firing  was  constant  on  the  skirmish  line.  The  wounded 
were  being  brought  back ;  the  skirmishers  were  reinforced 
and  occasionally  driven  in.  My  orders  were  to  hold  the 

256 


BENTONVILLE  257 

line  and  push  the  skirmishers  as  far  to  the  front  as  possible. 
I  could  see  no  Union  troops  on  my  right,  though  the  third 
brigade  (Colonel  Miles)  had  been  sent  in  that  direction. 
There  was  only  a  swamp  to  be  seen.  In  front  were  heavy 
black-jack  woods.  My  right  was  refused.  The  artillery 
battle  between  the  batteries  was  terrific.  I  noticed  that 
several  battery  horses  were  killed,  yet  it  did  not  occur  to 
me  that  we  needed  reinforcements,  or  that  there  was  more 
than  a  heavy  line  of  dismounted  cavalry  and  a  battery  in 
our  front.  We  were  constantly  losing  men  by  wounds  and 
inflicting  great  punishment  on  the  enemy  when  he  appeared. 
Thus  the  afternoon  wore  away. 

About  four  o'clock,  p.  M.,  the  skirmishers  were  driven  in 
again  and  it  was  reported  to  me  by  the  artillerists  and  the 
officers  of  the  left  company  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin, 
that  our  troops  on  the  left  of  the  road  were  all  gone,  and 
the  enemy  in  large  numbers  were  passing  to  our  left  rear. 
I  hastened  to  the  left  of  our  line.  The  artillerists  were  gone 
to  the  rear,  and  had  abandoned  one  piece,  which  looked 
very  lonely.  Approaching  our  flank,  at  a  distance  of  per- 
haps two  hundred  paces,  was  a  line  of  Loring's  and  Hoke's 
divisions,  parallel  with  the  road  and  at  right  angles  with  our 
line.  It  stretched  to  our  rear  farther  than  I  could  see 
through  the  timber.  I  could  not  help  admiring  for  the 
moment,  their  fine  soldierly  bearing,  for  they  had  just  swept 
away  from  that  part  of  the  field,  the  right  wing  of  ours,  and 
the  whole  of  Buell's  brigade,  together  with  the  division 
commander,  and  our  brigade  commander,  also  Robinson's 
brigade  from  the  twentieth  corps,  which  had  been  thrown 


258  ECHOES   OF  THE   CIVIL  WAR 

in  to  fill  a  gap  between  the  battery  and  Hobart's  right  wing, 
after  Hobart  had  moved  to  the  left  away  from  the  road,  all 
of  which  had  occurred  without  my  knowledge.  I  supposed 
that  I  would  be  informed  of  any  change  in  the  line  to  the 
left  of  the  battery.  The  rebel  army  were  feeling  triumphant. 
I  glanced  back  along  the  road  to  see  if  there  were  any  more 
of  our  corps  in  sight,  but  there  were  none,  and  none  so  far 
as  I  could  see  on  our  right.  It  was  evident  at  once  that  we 
could  not  remain  an  instant  in  the  isolated  position  we  were, 
— three  little  regiments  had  no  show  whatever  against  the 
forces  in  sight — or  we  would  have  the  same  fate  that  had 
overtaken  the  left.  We  would  be  either  captured  or  annihi- 
lated. At  first,  determining  that  I  would  not  retreat,  if 
anything  else  could  be  done,  I  ordered  some  of  the  infantry 
to  handle  the  abandoned  piece  as  if  preparing  to  fire,  and 
deployed  the  left  company  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin, 
facing  the  enemy,  and  sent  them  forward.  These  move- 
ments served  to  check  the  enemy's  advance  slightly,  until 
our  line  could  change  front,  so  as  to  be  parallel  with  them. 
While  this  order  was  being  executed,  I  perceived  that  the 
firing  on  our  old  front  still  continued,  and  in  the  new  posi- 
tion would  enfilade  our  line.  I  then  ordered  a  retreat 
which  was  executed  in  fine  order  across  the  swamp,  parallel 
to  our  first  position,  and  to  the  right  of  it.  When  we 
reached  the  farther  edge  of  the  swamp,  what  was  our  sur- 
prise to  find  the  front  line  of  the  second  division  (General 
Morgan's)  of  the  fourteenth  corps  behind  a  breastwork  of 
logs.  We  formed  on  the  left ;  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin 
on  the  right,  the  Forty-second  Indiana  in  the  centre,  and 


BENTONVILLE 

One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois  on  the  left  and  com- 
menced to  make  a  breastwork  of  old  fallen  timber.  No 
time  was  lost,  but  very  little  was  done  before  the  enemy  was 
on  us  with  that  triumphant  line  which  we  had  just  admired. 
Here  the  firing  was  terrific,  and  on  our  part  very  effective, 
as  I  saw  the  next  day  in  riding  over  the  field.  The  official 
report  of  General  Slocum  says  that  the  heaviest  fighting  of 
the  battle  was  in  front  of  this  part  of  Morgan's  line.  I 
thought  the  Confederate  dead  on  the  battle-fields  of  Perry- 
ville  and  Stone  River,  whom  I  saw,  were  numerous,  but  they 
were  not  equal  in  number  to  those  in  front  of  this  position. 
We  lost  many  men,  but  the  protection  of  the  logs  saved  us  from 
great  slaughter.  The  enemy  still  outflanked  us  and  began 
gradually  to  close  around  our  left.  Our  ammunition  soon 
became  exhausted,  not  having  been  replenished  during  the 
day.  Major  Widmer,  commanding  the  One  Hundred  and 
Fourth  Illinois,  seeing  this,  and  fearing  capture,  ordered 
the  regiment  for  the  second  time  to  the  rear.  This  was  a 
mistake,  for  at  this  very  time,  General  Jeff  C.  Davis  was 
bringing  Morgan's  reserve  brigade  (General  Fearing's)  in 
on  our  left,  and  Cogswell's  brigade  of  the  twentieth  corps, 
was  also  moving  in  that  direction,  but  these  movements 
could  not  be  seen  by  our  troops,  nor  were  they  in  time  to 
prevent  the  enemy  gaining  our  rear  and  firing  into  our 
backs.  Major  Widmer's  movement  carried  the  other  two 
regiments  with  it,  but  they  were  all  veterans  and  soon  rallied 
upon  a  new  line  from  which  skirmishers  were  immediately 
deployed  and  the  line  advanced  to  the  second  position 
again.  Here  we  remained  until  after  dark. 


26O  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

In  the  meantime  the  enemy  had  been  repulsed  by  fresh 
troops  thrown  in  on  our  flank,  and  darkness  coming  on,  this 
eventful  day's  fighting  came  to  an  end.  Our  loss  was  fifty- 
four  in  the  wing,  out  of  six  hundred  in  line. 

Now,  a  word  as  to  the  cause  of  our  isolation  and  imminent 
capture.  It  seems  that  about  one  o'clock,  General  Carlin, 
desiring  to  make  a  movement  on  the  enemy's  right  flank, 
took  Buell's  brigade  and  Hobart's  right  wing,  accompanied 
by  General  Hobart,  out  of  line  and  away  from  any  connec- 
tion with  the  battery  on  the  road,  without  informing  me  of 
it.  This  force  made  a  wide  detour  but  struck  Loring's  di- 
vision and  the  right  of  Hoke's  in  earthworks,  were  repulsed, 
and  then  countercharged  with  the  result  as  stated.  General 
Carlin,  in  a  paper  upon  this  battle,  read  before  the  Ohio 
Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  mistakenly  refers  to 
Hobart's  brigade  as  a  unit  throughout  this  battle.  His 
official  report  states  the  truth  that  the  two  wings  were  sepa- 
rately maneuvred,  and  that  my  wing  seemed  to  do  as  stated 
in  his  report  "what  was  best  under  the  circumstances." 

During  the  night  of  the  ipth,  the  enemy  fell  back  some 
distance  in  our  front  and  on  that  part  of  the  line  there  was 
no  more  fighting.  Hazen's  division  came  up  next  day  on 
the  extreme  right  of  our  army  wing,  and  during  the  zoth 
and  2ist,  a  large  part  of  the  whole  army.  There  was  some 
fighting  but  the  enemy  finally  retreated  from  the  field,  as 
they  had  always  done  before  except,  perhaps,  at  Chicka- 
mauga. 

Bentonville  was  one  of  the  fights  in  which  they  lost  more 
than  we  did — their  loss  was,  according  to  General  Johnston, 


BENTONVILLE  26 1 

2,343 — ours,  according  to  General  Sherman,  1,604 — three- 
fourths  of  which  occurred  the  first  day. 

The  first  day's  fighting  was  a  complete  surprise  to  our 
generals  and  the  first  division,  fourteenth  corps,  being  in  the 
advance,  was  the  sacrifice.  It  was  not  properly  formed  for 
fighting  so  large  a  force  of  the  enemy.  It  was  sent  in  by 
detachments,  and  at  no  time  during  the  ipth  did  it  have  a 
compact  front,  nor  a  properly  fortified  line.  It  was  without 
reserves.  Of  course,  under  these  circumstances,  when  it 
was  attacked  by  14,000  confederates,  under  so  able  a  com- 
mander as  General  J.  E.  Johnston,  and  such  veteran  subordi- 
nates, it  could  not  hold  its  position.  When  our  army  did 
arrive  on  the  2ist,  it  was  easy  to  hold  the  field,  and  the  foe 
could  have  been  crushed.  General  Sherman  says  in  his 
"  Memoirs,"  volume  2,  page  306,  "  With  the  knowledge  now 
possessed  of  his  small  force,  of  course,  I  committed  an  error 
in  not  overwhelming  Johnston's  army  on  the  2ist  of  March, 
1865."  So  the  whole  battle  was  a  tragedy  of  errors,  be- 
ginning when  Sherman  rode  away  on  the  ipth,  and  ending 
when  the  enemy  escaped  on  the  2ist. 

On  March  igth,  the  day  of  the  battle,  General  J.  Kil- 
patrick,  commanding  our  cavalry,  wrote  General  Sherman 
as  follows :  "  During  yesterday  afternoon  and  last  evening 
he  "  (the  enemy)  "  made  forced  marches,  and  is  now  in  our 
front  and  General  Johnston  is  in  command.  He  addressed 
his  troops  this  morning  saying  that  he  had  40,000  men,  and 
that  our  army  must,  and  should  be  stopped  here.  The 
fighting  to-day  has  been  splendid  and  you  can  rely  on  your 
army  in  everything.  I  never  witnessed  more  determined 


262  ECHOES    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

attacks  than  were  made  by  the  enemy  to-day  upon  our 
centre.  Six  were  made,  one  after  another,  in  rapid  suc- 
cession on  the  same  men,  at  the  same  point.  ...  If 
you  attack  the  enemy  in  the  flank  and  rear,  as  you  propose 
in  your  communication  to  me,  Johnston's  army,  if  it  re- 
mains, is  lost.  Generals  Slocum,  Davis,  Williams,  and 
others,  for  several  hours  to-day  anxiously  listened,  and  only 
waited  for  the  first  sound  of  battle  from  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  when  they  would  have  marched  without  halting 
over  every  opposition  in  front.  I  only  hope  to  God  that 
Johnston  may  remain  for  your  attack,  and  you  will  achieve 
a  triumph  over  the  enemy  such  as  no  general  can  boast. 
You  can  expect  everything  that  is  brave  and  daring  from 
my  cavalry.  .  .  ."  (See  page  909,  serial  volume  99, 
"Rebellion  Record.") 

Before  Kilpatrick  had  written  this  letter,  General  Sher- 
man had  written  him  as  follows,  "  If  that  force  remain  in 
Slocum's  front,  to-morrow,  I  will  move  straight  on  its  rear." 
But  it  remained  there,  until  the  night  of  the  2ist.  General 
Sherman  missed  his  opportunity,  as  he  said  in  the  quotation 
from  his  "Memoirs  "  heretofore  given. 

My  official  report  of  this  battle  is  published  in  part  i, 
page  463,  volume  47,  "  Official  Record,  War  of  Rebellion," 
and  is  as  follows  : 

"  In  Camp  Near  Goldsboro, 

"March  24,  1865. 
"  CAPT.  J.  W.  FORD, 

A.  A.  A.  G., 

1st  Bri%.,  ist  Dtv.,  1 4th  A.  C. 

"  CAPTAIN  :  I  have  the  honor  to  make  the  following  re- 
port of  the  operations  of  the  left  wing  of  this  brigade,  to  wit ; 


BENTONVILLE  263 

The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  Infantry,  Major  Walker  com- 
manding, One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois  Infantry,  Major 
Widmer,  and  Forty-second  Indiana  Infantry  Major  Kellams, 
in  the  engagement  of  the  igth  inst., — that  being  the  only 
period  during  the  campaign,  just  closed,  that  this  wing  oper- 
ated beyond  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  brigade  com- 
mander. This  wing  moved  from  camp  at  seven  o'clock, 
A.  M.,  on  March  igth,  and  went  into  line  of  battle  at  10 
A.  M.  on  our  right  of  the  road,  twenty-two  miles  west  of 
Goldsboro,  N.  C.,  as  the  second  line  of  the  brigade.  The 
first  line  immediately  attacked  the  enemy,  and  drove  him 
very  rapidly,  this  line  following  all  the  movements,  but  in 
compliance  with  an  order  sent  me  by  the  brigade  comman- 
der, the  wing  halted.  Very  shortly,  but  after  the  first  line 
of  the  brigade  had  advanced  out  of  sight  through  the  woods 
and  thick  undergrowth,  I  received  the  order  from  the  bri- 
gade commander  to  advance  by  right  of  companies  to  the 
front.  The  wing  advanced  thus,  about  a  mile,  when  by 
order  of  the  division  commander,  Brigadier-General  Carlin, 
the  wing  took  position  to  the  right  of  the  right  wing  of  the 
brigade,  with  the  left  resting  upon  the  main  road,  relieving  the 
Ninety-fourth  Ohio  Infantry,  Major  Snider.  The  positions 
of  the  regiments  then  were  as  follows  :  Forty-second  In- 
diana on  the  right  and  refused,  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  in 
the  centre,  and  One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois  on  the 
left,  the  last  two  at  right  angles  with  the  road.  An  attack 
being  threatened  by  the  enemy  on  our  right  flank,  Brigadier- 
General  Carlin  ordered  the  left  regiment,  One  Hundred  and 
Fourth  Illinois  there.  It  took  position  immediately  on  the 
right  of  the  Forty-second  Indiana,  running  almost  into  the 
face  of  the  enemy  in  taking  position.  The  line  thus  formed 
at  once  fortified  as  well  as  it  could  under  a  constant  fire 
from  the  enemy,  which  our  skirmish  line  was  unable  to  si- 
lence. By  order  of  Brigadier-General  Carlin,  I  reinforced 
the  skirmish  line  and  advanced  it  until  a  line  of  the  enemy's 
works  was  developed,  when  it  was  halted.  The  right  being 
closest  to  the  enemy,  and  the  firing  there  being  heaviest,  I 
considered  that  the  point  of  most  danger,  and  therefore  gave 
the  left  less  attention.  Besides,  two  pieces  of  artillery  were 
on  my  immediate  left,  and  I  supposed  the  other  wing  of  the 
brigade  on  the  immediate  left  of  the  artillery,  there  being 


264  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

only  an  open  field  in  that  front.  About  4  P.  M.,  my  skir- 
mishers were  driven  in,  and  it  was  reported  to  me  by  the 
artillerists  that  the  enemy  had  passed  in  some  numbers  into 
the  woods  on  my  left  rear,  and  at  the  same  time  the  artiller- 
ists on  my  left  went  to  the  rear,  abandoning  one  piece.  I  at 
once  ran  to  the  left  and  saw  a  line  of  battle  of  the  enemy 
approaching  within  200  paces  of  my  position  at  right  angles 
with  it  and  extending  far  to  my  left  rear.  The  left  com- 
pany, Captain  Randall  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin,  im- 
mediately deployed  in  that  direction,  and  so  much  of  the 
regiment  as  could  see  the  enemy's  line  opened  fire  upon  it. 
In  the  meantime  I  gave  command  for  the  wing  to  change 
front  in  that  direction,  but  as  the  enemy  had  already  opened 
fire  upon  our  rear,  and  perceiving  that  if  the  movement 
should  succeed,  we  should  have  a  swamp  at  our  rear,  and 
also  be  again  outflanked,  just  as  the  movements  I  had  just 
ordered  began,  I  ordered  a  retreat,  which  the  wing  executed 
in  good  order  through  the  swamp,  upon  the  opposite  edge  of 
which  it  again  took  position,  about  200  paces  in  the  right 
rear  of  the  former  position,  at  about  right  angles  with  it,  and 
forming  a  continuation  of  the  first  line  of  the  second  divi- 
sion, fourteenth  army  corps.  The  Twenty-first  Wisconsin 
was  on  the  right,  Forty-second  Indiana  in  the  centre  and 
One  Hundred  and  Fourth  Illinois  on  the  left  and  refused. 
Within  ten  minutes  from  time  of  taking  this  position,  the 
enemy  again  attacked  us  furiously  on  the  front  and  left  flank. 
The  wing  fought  here  gallantly  until  its  ammunition  was  ex- 
hausted, when  Major  Widmer  commanding  the  One  Hundred 
and  Fourth  Illinois  Infantry  on  the  left,  finding  he  was  out- 
flanked, and  the  enemy  about  to  gain  his  rear,  again  fell 
back.  This  movement  carried  with  it  the  whole  wing,  but 
with  the  aid  of  the  three  regimental  commanders,  I  suc- 
ceeded in  keeping  the  men  together  and  again  within  300 
paces  of  the  second  position,  formed  a  new  line,  this  time 
with  our  backs  to  the  swamp,  and  threw  forward  a  line  of 
skirmishers.  Finding  the  enemy  did  not  attack  us  here,  I 
took  the  offensive,  advanced  the  wing  near  the  second  posi- 
tion, and  found  the  enemy  had  been  checked  and  driven  by 
a  portion  of  the  second  division  of  the  corps,  and  some  fresh 
troops  thrown  in  on  our  left.  Here  I  reported  in  person  to 
Brigadier-General  Morgan,  commanding  second  division, 


BENTONVILLE  265 

fourteenth  army  corps,  and  sent  E  Company,  Captain  Bor- 
cherdt,  Twenty- first  Wisconsin,  to  procure  ammunition,  and 
report  our  condition  and  location  to  Brevet  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Hobart,  commanding  brigade.  About  9  P.  M.,  by  order 
of  the  brigade  commander,  the  wing  joined  the  division 
about  one  and  one-half  miles  distant.  The  wing  went  into 
the  fight  with  thirty-two  officers  and  six  hundred  and  ten 
muskets.  The  loss  is  as  follows  :  In  officers,  three  killed, 
one  wounded ;  in  enlisted  men,  four  killed,  forty-one 
wounded,  and  five  captured.  Total  loss,  fifty-four. 

"  For  further  particulars,  I  respectfully  refer  to  Regi- 
mental Reports,  which  will  be  forwarded  directly  to  brigade 
headquarters. 

"M.  H.  FITCH, 
"  Lieutenant-Colonel  commanding." 

It  can  readily  be  seen  by  a  careful  reading  of  the  official 
reports  and  of  the  unofficial  articles  that  have  been  written 
upon  this  battle  by  those  who  were  in  it,  that  Carlin's  divi- 
sion was  maneuvred  and  formed  to  attack  a  light  line  of  cav- 
alry. It  was  at  no  time,  down  to  the  moment  of  attack  by 
the  rebel  forces,  in  a  position  to  resist  such  an  attack.  It 
was  drawn  out  in  single  line,  the  brigades  detached  from 
each  other,  and  with  no  connection  with  any  other  troops  on 
either  the  right  or  the  left.  Our  brigade  was  divided  and 
the  right  wing  marched  off  without  my  being  informed  of 
it.  No  instructions  were  given  me  except  to  remain  where 
I  was.  I  was  not  informed  that  General  James  D.  Morgan 
had  placed  his  division  on  the  right.  He  had  formed  and 
with  military  sagacity,  fortified,  with  one  brigade  in  reserve, 
but  made  no  connection  with  us.  His  fortified,  compact  line 
saved  his  division.  Nor,  did  I  know  where  Colonel  Miles' 
brigade  was.  The  result  was  that  when  General  Carlin  was 
cut  off  from  us,  I  was  compelled  to  act  as  if  I  were  there 


266  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

entirely  alone,  and  was  greatly  surprised,  but  delighted  to 
fall  back  on  General  Morgan's  lines.  The  problem  was  how 
not  to  be  captured,  for  it  was  impossible  to  stand  against 
the  overwhelming  number  of  rebel  troops  plainly  visible, 
coming  against  us. 

The  following  letter  from  General  Carlin,  written  after  the 
battle,  and  after  he  had  left  the  division  explains  itself : 

"  Cumberland,  Maryland,  May  27,  i86j. 
"  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  M.  H.  FITCH, 

"  21  st  Wisconsin  Vet.   Volunteers. 
"DEAR  COLONEL: 

"  Ever  since  leaving  the  first  division,  fourteenth  corps, 
I  have  longed  to  communicate  with  the  officers  and  men,  and 
especially  of  the  first  brigade,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing 
my  appreciation  of  their  conduct  on  all  occasions,  where 
courage,  fortitude  and  self-denial  were  required.  Though 
disappointed  at  times  at  not  meeting  with  perfect  success, 
subsequent  reflection  has  convinced  me  that  all  was  accom- 
plished by  them  that  could  have  been  expected  or  desired. 
More  especially  at  the  battle  of  Bentonville  where  we  were 
forced  to  fall  back,  have  I  now  reason  to  congratulate  myself 
and  them  on  their  behavior.  Had  my  troops  on  the  left  of 
the  road  held  their  position  longer  than  they  did,  they  would 
have  been  surrounded  and  crushed  by  superior  numbers. 

"  With  sincere  wishes  for  your  success  and  happiness,  and 
that  of  my  old  brigade,  I  am, 

"Truly  your  friend, 

"W.  P.  CARLIN, 
"Brev.  Maj.  Gen." 

I  blame  no  one,  because  all  the  commanders,  Sherman, 
Slocum,  Davis  and  Carlin,  were  all  in  the  dark.  They  had 
no  idea  what  was  in  front  of  them,  and  made  no  previous 
disposition  to  meet  such  a  force.  The  breastworks  of  Morgan 
saved  his  division,  and  only  part  of  it  gave  way  and  fell 


BENTONVILLE  267 

back.  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  in  his  official  report, 
boasts  of  the  number  of  lines  of  works  he  found  abandoned 
during  the  assault.  But  they  were  those  of  little  detach- 
ments taken  from  one  division  and  scattered  here  and  there 
on  the  field,  around  which  his  long  lines  could  wind  on  both 
flanks. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
FROM  BENTONVILLE  TO  MILWAUKEE 

In  camp  at  Goldsboro — The  colored  people  our  only  friends  in  the 
long  march  just  closed — The  cruelties  of  slavery — The  maxims  of 
scripture  as  well  as  the  laws  of  nature  alike,  eventually  establish 
justice — April  loth,  marched  towards  Raleigh,  North  Carolina — 
April  I2th,  the  surrender  of  Lee  to  Grant  was  announced  to  Sher- 
man's army  while  on  the  march — Entered  Raleigh,  April  I3th — 
The  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  cast  the  army  into  the  depths  of 
grief — The  regiment  stationed  at  Avent's  Ferry  on  Cape  Fear 
River,  thirty  miles  from  Raleigh — Johnston's  army  finally  sur- 
rendered on  April  28th — The  march  to  Washington,  D.  C. — The 
Grand  Review,  May  24th — Final  muster-out — Payment  and  dis- 
charge at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  June  17,  1865. 

MARCH  22d,  after  leaving  the  battle-field  of  Bentonville, 
we  marched  through  the  fifteenth  and  seventeenth  corps. 
On  the  23d,  passed  General  Terry's  headquarters  at  Cox's 
Bridge.  He  had  brought  his  command  up  from  Wilming- 
ton. As  we  passed  through  Goldsboro,  we  marched  com- 
pany front  past  Sherman,  Schofield,  Slocum  and  Davis. 
They  were  standing  on  the  sidewalk. 

At  Goldsboro,  March  27th,  I  wrote,  "That  part  of  the 
history  of  the  campaign  just  closed,  that  historians  will  write 
will  be  tame  enough.  The  facts  that  will  remain  unwritten 
will  furnish  romancers  and  poets  with  material  for  the  next 
thousand  years.  The  slaves  have  been  our  only  friends. 
What  they  have  done  for  the  army  entitles  them  to  their 
freedom,  or  whatever  they  may  desire.  Their  mute  counte- 
nances in  South  Carolina  were  the  best  arguments  in  favor 
of  abolition.  If  this  war  is  a  great  drama,  the  slave  in  the 

268 


FROM    BENTONVILLE    TO    MILWAUKEE  269 

scene  has  been  the  star  actor,  and  has  acted  his  part  well. 
The  volunteer  army  so  far  as  I  know,  are  all  abolitionists. 
Men,  whom  the  arguments  of  Phillips,  Sumner,  and  Beecher 
hardened  into  pro-slavery  advocates,  by  the  simple  protesta- 
tions and  silent  evidences  of  the  cruelty  of  slavery  of  the  poor 
demented  negroes,  have  been  made  practical  abolitionists. 
How  true  did  Paul  say  to  the  Corinthians,  '  God  hath  chosen 
the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise  and  base 
things  of  the  world  and  things  which  are  despised ;  and 
things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought  the  things  that  are.' 
Herbert  Spencer  would  express  this  a  little  differently.  Per- 
haps he  would  say,  '  Evolution  by  which  the  moral  world  as 
well  as  the  physical  is  governed,  destroys  the  unfit,  and  se- 
lects the  fit  to  survive,  and  man  does  not  know  what  is  fit,' 
which  means  the  same  thing.  He  who  makes  it  a  business 
to  deprive  any  human  being  of  the  profits  of  his  labor  is 
unfit. 

"  The  slaves  have  furnished  us  with  information  of  the 
movements  of  the  enemy,  of  the  roads,  of  the  treatment  ac- 
corded our  men  as  prisoners.  They  furnished  our  men  food, 
shelter  and  clothing,  and  piloted  escaped  prisoners  to  our 
lines,  all  at  the  risk  of  their  lives. 

"  No  pen  will  write  all  the  incidents  of  the  past  campaign 
unless  the  '  bummers '  should  fill  the  world  with  books,  be- 
side which  the  '  Arabian  Nights '  and  '  Robinson  Crusoe ' 
would  seem  dull." 

At  Goldsboro,  General  Carlin  procured  leave  of  absence 
and  went  north.  He  did  not  again  join  us.  General  George 
P.  Buell,  who  commanded  the  second  brigade,  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  division  by  virtue  of  seniority.  I  was  assigned 
to  command  Buell's  brigade.  This  lasted  only  a  few  days. 
General  C.  C.  Walcutt,  a  little  while  before  the  next  ad- 
vance, was  assigned  to  Carlin's  place,  and  Buell  went  back 
to  his  brigade  and  I  returned  to  my  left  wing. 

Started  on  new  campaign  April  loth,  towards  Raleigh. 
On  April  nth,  I  requested  Colonel  Hobart  to  relieve  me  of 


2/O  ECHOES   OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

command  of  the  left  wing  of  the  brigade.  It  was  an  anoma- 
lous command,  not  recognized  by  the  regulations  and  took 
me  away  from  a  legitimate  position.  A  demi-brigade  com- 
mander was  recognized  by  no  one  but  the  brigade  com- 
mander. The  command  of  a  regiment  was  much  pleasanter 
and  more  honorable. 

April  1 2th,  while  halted  in  the  midst  of  a  swamp,  a  staff 
officer  rode  along  the  line  announcing  that  General  Sherman 
had  received  a  dispatch  from  Secretary  Stanton  that  Lee  had 
surrendered  to  General  Grant  on  the  pth.  Those  woods 
perhaps  never  before  resounded  with  such  cheers  as  our 
whole  army  gave  upon  receiving  this  news — it  foreshadowed 
the  end — and  home. 

April  131!),  entered  Raleigh  at  9  :  30  A.  M.,  close  behind 
Kilpatrick's  cavalry.  We  marched  straight  for  the  capitol 
in  open  column  of  companies,  bands  playing,  colors  flying. 
We  rested  on  the  capitol  grounds  and  hoisted  our  regimental 
flag  on  its  dome.  As  we  entered  the  city,  first  Slocum  and 
staff,  then  Davis  and  staff,  then  Sherman  passed  us.  They 
stood  at  the  gate  of  the  grounds  of  the  state  house,  as  we 
marched  into  the  capitol  grounds.  The  citizens  generally 
remained  in  the  city.  Governor  Vance  and  staff  had  de- 
parted. We  received  the  news  of  Lee's  surrender  with  joy, 
but  Mr.  Lincoln's  death  cast  us  into  the  depths  of  grief. 

We  left  Raleigh  April  i4th,  staying  there  but  one  day. 
Orders  came  to  march  and  encamp  the  division  within  three 
miles  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  but  my  regiment  went  on  to 
Avent's  Ferry  to  guard  the  crossing.  This  is  thirty  miles 
southwest  of  Raleigh.  We  remained  here  in  camp  for  some 


FROM    BENTONVILLE   TO    MILWAUKEE  2/1 

days,  while  Sherman  was  negotiating  with  Johnston  for  sur- 
render. The  squires  and  farmers  for  miles  around  came  to 
my  headquarters  to  ask  for  guards  to  protect  their  families. 
They  asked  me  in  some  instances  to  talk  to  their  darkies 
concerning  their  duties  towards  their  former  masters ;  and 
in  one  instance  a  horse  was  turned  over  from  one  neighbor 
to  another,  by  my  order.  They  liked  to  be  governed  and 
evidently  were  used  to  it.  They  were  very  ignorant  and 
had  been  easily  governed  by  a  few  sharpers.  In  the  nature 
of  things  everywhere,  the  strong  govern  the  weak,  and  it 
was  the  case  here  in  North  Carolina,  and  all  through  the 
south  in  a  marked  degree.  There  was  a  notable  absence  of 
schoolhouses  and  weekly  newspapers  all  along  our  march. 
The  rampant  secessionists  must  have  had  wonderful  power 
over  these  people.  Whoever  was  in  power  would  control 
their  thoughts.  Rebel  soldiers  absent  from  their  commands 
were  constantly  coming  to  get  paroled.  Lee's  soldiers 
lined  the  road  on  the  way  to  their  homes.  They  were  all 
paroled.  We  also  had  battalion  drill  and  dress  parade 
daily. 

On  the  28th,  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  having  finally 
surrendered  at  Durham,  we  started  for  Richmond  via 
Oxford — a  beautiful  little  town  just  south  of  the  Virginia 
line.  We  left  Raleigh  to  our  right,  and  entered  Virginia  at 
the  Roanoke  River,  May  2d,  just  one  year,  lacking  two 
days,  from  the  date  of  crossing  the  state  line  from  Tennessee 
into  Georgia,  in  the  march  from  Lookout  Mountain  at 
Chattanooga.  What  a  year  that  had  been  in  the  history  of 
the  war  and  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  ! 


ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

At  Avent's  Ferry,  after  receiving  the  order  from  the  di- 
vision commander,  General  Walcutt,  that  I  should  join  the 
division  next  day,  a  very  amusing  incident  occurred.  In 
order  not  to  delay  the  movement  to  a  late  hour  next  morn- 
ing, I  sent  one-half  of  the  regiment  across  the  river  that 
evening  by  the  ferry,  with  instructions  to  Captain  La  Count, 
the  senior  officer,  to  move  that  half  a  short  distance  out 
from  the  river,  go  into  camp,  and  await  my  arrival  with  the 
other  companies  the  next  morning.  The  next  morning, 
while  I  was  making  my  toilet  a  messenger  came  from  La 
Count  saying  that  all  night  he  had  heard  firing  in  front  of 
him.  That  then  he  was  in  line  of  battle  expecting  an  at- 
tack, and  asked  me  to  hurry  up  with  the  remaining  compa- 
nies. Knowing  that  there  could  be  no  attack  by  the  enemy, 
I  sent  the  messenger  back  with  that  information,  and  that 
there  must  be  some  mistake.  The  captain  had  been 
alarmed  by  the  feu  de  joie  of  Morgan's  and  Walcutt's 
divisions  over  the  surrender  of  Johnston  and  the  close  of 
the  war.  I  could  not  hear  the  firing  from  my  headquarters, 
but  I  learned  afterwards  that  it  was  terrific.  The  division 
started  on  the  homeward  march  early  in  the  morning,  so 
that  I  did  not  catch  up  with  it  until  night.  But  along  the 
road  during  the  day,  I  would  occasionally  receive  a  note 
from  either  Hobart  or  Walcutt  in  front,  jocularly  asking  me 
to  report  my  losses  in  the  morning's  engagement  with  the 
enemy,  or  if  I  was  still  in  line  of  battle,  awaiting  the  enemy. 
Hobart  and  Walcutt  were  very  jolly,  genial  men.  They 
could  not  let  an  opportunity  of  that  kind  pass  without 
getting  some  fun  out  of  it.  Walcutt  was  a  young  man,  but 


FROM  BENTONVILLE  TO  MILWAUKEE       273 

Hobart  was  then  fifty  years  old,  but  as  young  in  spirits  as 
Walcutt. 

All  along  the  march  through  the  beautiful  country  tribu- 
tary to  the  Roanoke  River,  the  darkies  were  very  demon- 
strative, rejoicing  over  their  freedom.  General  Thomas 
was  born  in  Southampton  County,  Virginia,  the  second 
county  east  of  Mecklenburg,  where  we  marched  in  crossing 
the  line. 

May  6th,  we  crossed  the  Appomattox,  and  next  day  en- 
camped opposite  Richmond,  on  the  south  side  of  the  James 
River.  We  had  marched  180  miles,  from  Avent's  Ferry 
the  men  carrying  knapsacks,  muskets,  cartridge  boxes,  and 
haversacks,  in  six  days. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  that  any  description  of  Richmond 
or  of  Libby  Prison  as  they  then  appeared  would  be  interest- 
ing to  the  reader.  They  have  been  described  in  numerous 
books  and  hundreds  of  published  articles. 

Our  route  from  Richmond  to  Washington  took  us  be- 
tween the  North  Anna  River  and  Spottsylvania,  across  the 
Rapidan,  by  the  Raccoon  Ford,  leaving  the  battle-field  of 
the  Wilderness  to  our  right ;  thence  by  Catletts  and  Center- 
ville  to  Alexandria,  where  we  went  into  camp,  on  the  igth 
of  May. 

Our  brigade  was  the  last  one  in  the  column  that  passed 
by  company  front  before  the  President,  General  Grant,  and 
others  on  May  24th,  1865,  in  what  is  called  the  "  Grand 
Review."  It  has  become  more  or  less  familiar  to  every 
reader,  as  the  culmination  of  the  closing  scenes  of  the  war. 
It  was  with  considerable  pride  that  our  regiment  received 


2/4  ECHOES   OF   THE   CIVIL  WAR 

the  plaudits  of  the  crowd  at  our  fine  line,  and  the  way  the 
men  handled  their  arms.  There  was  a  halt  of  the  column 
opposite  the  Treasury  Department  on  Fifteenth  Street, 
where  I  deemed  it  best  to  have  the  men  rest  a  short  time. 
They  were  carrying  their  arms  at  right  shoulder  shift.  They 
brought  _them  to  shoulder  arms,  and  then  I  gave  the  com- 
mand, "Order  Arms."  They  had  never  done  it  any 
better.  When  the  butts  of  the  muskets  touched  the  pave- 
ment, it  sounded  as  if  a  single  musket  only,  had  been  brought 
down,  so  simultaneous  was  the  combined  movement.  The 
immense  throng  clapped  their  hands  and  cheered.  A  few 
friends  of  mine  who  stood  together  on  the  sidewalk  at 
another  point  on  the  march  gave  me  three  cheers,  that  were 
greatly  appreciated.  The  day  was  especially  fine  for  the 
review,  but  it  lasted  six  hours  and  a-half,  and  our  being  in 
the  rear  of  the  column,  made  it  very  tiresome.  General 
Sherman  says  of  this  review  in  his  "Memoirs,"  "When 
I  reached  the  Treasury  Building,  and  looked  back,  the 
sight  was  simply  magnificent.  The  column  was  compact 
and  the  glittering  muskets  looked  like  a  solid  mass  of  steel, 
moving  with  the  regularity  of  a  pendulum." 

The  immense  concourse  of  people  lining  the  sidewalks 
and  occupying  every  available  spot  of  the  buildings  where 
the  feet  could  find  a  rest,  seemed  perfectly  fascinated. 
They  lingered  even  after  the  troops  had  disappeared,  as  if 
hypnotized  by  the  pomp  and  circumstance,  instinctively 
knowing  that  their  eyes  would  never  again  behold  a  sight 
like  that.  Every  space  seemed  covered  with  flags,  which 
were  also  festooned  across  the  avenue  in  innumerable  places. 


FROM  BENTONVILLE  TO  MILWAUKEE       2/5 

After  the  review,  we  moved  our  camp  to  the  Washington 
side  of  the  Potomac,  two-and-a-half  miles  west  of  the  capi- 
tol,  near  the  soldier's  home.  I  made  a  pleasant  visit  while 
lying  at  Washington,  to  the  camp  of  the  old  Sixth  Wis- 
consin. That  and  the  Second  Wisconsin  had  been  so 
reduced  some  time  previous  that  they  were  consolidated. 
There  were  but  five  or  six  of  old  Company  B  left.  All  the 
other  members  of  the  company  then  present  were  strangers 
to  me,  either  later  recruits  or  drafted  men.  These  five  or 
six  came  to  the  captain's  quarters.  I  had  a  pleasant  talk 
with  them.  Henry  E.  Smyzer  was  captain.  He  was  a 
corporal  when  I  left  the  company.  I  have  never  seen  him 
since. 

We  were  to  be  mustered  out  of  service  as  soon  as  the 
rolls  and  discharges  could  be  prepared.  It  was  a  long  and 
a  tedious  task.  The  recruits  who  had  come  to  us  at  Look- 
out Mountain  and  the  transfers  from  the  First  and  Tenth 
Wisconsin  Infantry  regiments,  those  that  were  left  of  them, 
had  to  be  transferred  to  the  Third  Wisconsin  Infantry. 
There  were  three  hundred  of  them.  June  5th,  I  wrote, 

"I  have  been  sitting  in  my  tent  all  evening  performing 
little  pleasing  tasks,  such  as  mentioning  our  color  corporal 
in  orders,  because  there  is  no  vacancy  for  his  promotion, 
which  he  so  bravely  earned  in  the  South  Carolina  cam- 
paign and  Bentonville,  also  recommending  some  officer  for 
something.  There  is  some  little  thing  to  be  done  almost 
every  minute,  and  when  it  is  in  favor  of  some  brave,  quiet, 
modest,  intelligent  soldier  who  will  at  this  late  hour  in  the 
history  of  the  regiment,  thus  perceive  that  his  merits  have 
not  been  overlooked,  my  heart  swells  with  pleasure,  until  I 
forget  the  turmoil  and  dull  routine  of  the  day's  work. 
Yesterday  we  turned  out  to  greet  our  old  commander,  Gen- 


2/6  ECHOES    OF   THE    CIVIL   WAR 

eral  George  H.  Thomas.  The  air  vibrated  with  cheer  after 
cheer  that  we  gave  the  grand,  true  soldier.  Our  regiment 
was  on  the  right  of  the  division.  As  this  '  Rock  of 
Chickamauga '  took  my  hand  and  shook  it  with  an  honest 
grip,  he  asked  if  I  had  been  well,  etc.  Ex-Governor  Randall 
addressed  all  the  Wisconsin  troops  in  the  Army  of  Georgia, 
as  our  army  is  called,  and  then  there  was  more  cheering. 
Jt  is  nothing  but  one  continual  excitement  here,  and  I  am 
anxious  for  peace  and  quiet." 

Our  discharges  were  all  dated  on  June  8,  1865,  but  we 
still  remained  in  the  United  States  service  until  arriving  at 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  where  we  went  by  rail  from  Washington. 
A  paymaster  there  paid  each  man  what  was  due  him  on 
June  iyth,  endorsed  the  payment  and  date  on  his  discharge, 
and  handed  the  money  and  the  discharge  to  him.  Then 
we  were  out,  and  citizens  once  more,  after  a  service  of  two 
years,  nine  months  and  twelve  days.  My  own  service  ex- 
tended from  May  10,  1861,  to  June  17,  1865 — four  years, 
one  month  and  seven  days,  or  counting  it  from  the  date  of 
muster  into  the  United  States'  service,  July  16,  1861,  it  was 
forty-seven  months.  The  only  regret  I  am  conscious  of,  is 
that  I  did  not  have  the  ability  and  knowledge  to  do  better 
in  every  emergency  than  I  did.  In  each  soldierly  duty,  I 
did  that  which  I  thought  at  the  time  was  best. 

The  following  was  the  roster  of  the  officers  at  the  date  of 
muster-out : 

H.  C.  Hobart,  colonel  and  brevet  brigadier-general. 

M.  H.  Fitch,  lieutenant-colonel  and  brevet  colonel  com- 
manding. 

C.  H.  Walker,  major. 

B.  F.  Fuller,  adjutant. 


FROM    BENTONVILLE    TO    MILWAUKEE 

S.  H.  Fernandez,  quartermaster. 

James  T.  Reeve,  surgeon. 

Henry  L.  Barnes,  assistant  surgeon. 

William  M.  Hoyt,  assistant  surgeon. 

Reverend  O.  P.  Clinton,  chaplain. 

Company  A — H.  K.  Edwards,  captain ;  W.  H.  Cook, 
first  lieutenant ;  Samuel  Hotaling,  second  lieutenant. 

Company  B — James  E.  Stuart,  captain ;  Edward  Vreden- 
burg,  first  lieutenant. 

Company  C — William  Hubbard,  second  lieutenant. 

Company  D — J.  H.  Otto,  captain ;  Lyman  Waite,  first 
lieutenant. 

Company  E — Fred  W.  Borcherdt,  captain ;  C.  F.  Weston, 
first  lieutenant ;  August  Hanson,  second  lieutenant. 

Company  F — Edward  Dorian,  first  lieutenant;  A.  S. 
Delaware,  second  lieutenant. 

Company  G — William  Watson,  captain;  D.  D.  Burn- 
ham,  first  lieutenant. 

Company  H — C.  H.  Morgan,  captain. 

Company  I — A.  B.  Bradish,  captain;  C.  B.  Clark,  first 
lieutenant ;  Gustavus  Jaeger,  second  lieutenant. 

Company  K — Joseph  La  Count,  captain ;  John  E.  Davies, 
first  lieutenant. 

In  comparing  this  with  the  roster  of  officers  who  were 
present  in  Oshkosh,  September  5,  1862,  at  the  muster-in, 
there  are  eight  only,  who  were  present  at  both  muster-in 
and  muster-out,  viz.  : — M.  H.  Fitch,  C.  H.  Walker,  Dr.  J.  T. 
Reeve,  Rev.  O.  P.  Clinton,  H.  K.  Edwards,  F,  W.  Bor- 
cherdt, C.  H.  Morgan,  and  Joseph  La  Count. 


2/8  ECHOES    OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR 

Colonel  Hobart  was  not  present  at  Oshkosh ;  assistant 
surgeons  Hoyt  and  Barnes  joined  late  in  the  war.  The  rest 
of  the  officers  on  the  roster  at  muster-out  had  been  pro- 
moted from  the  ranks  for  bravery  and  meritorious  services 
and  I  believe  all  of  them  had  served  from  the  muster-in  to 
the  muster-out. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
OFFICIAL  STATISTICS 

The  standard  of  efficiency  in  a  regiment  or  an  army — It  seems  to  be 
large  losses — A  better  test  is  the  punishment  given  the  enemy — 
Some  figures  given  by  Colonel  Fox  in  "  Regimental  Losses  " — 
Comparatively  few  fighting  regiments  or  soldiers — The  standing 
of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin  compared  with  other  regiments — 
Some  compliments  from  corps  and  division  commanders  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  Twenty-first  Wisconsin. 

IT  is  difficult  to  set  up  a  standard  of  the  real  efficiency  of 
a  body  of  troops,  or  the  real  greatness  of  a  battle.  The 
reporters  and  song  writers  can  seize  upon  a  romantic  affair 
like  the  "  battle  above  the  clouds,"  the  "  march  to  the  sea," 
or  the  "charge  of  the  light  brigade"  at  Balaklava  in  the 
Crimean  War,  and  make  the  whole  world  talk  and  think 
about  it.  The  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  in  the  first  two 
of  these,  however,  was  utterly  insignificant;  although,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  clouds,  which  have  been  immortalized  in 
poetry,  that  hung  between  the  rebels  above  and  our  men 
below,  on  Lookout  Mountain,  Hooker's  loss  would  have 
been  very  severe.  Lord  Cardigan's  loss  in  the  famous 
charge  at  Balaklava  was  large,  but  this  was  far  exceeded  in 
single  battles  by  several  infantry  regiments  on  both  sides,  in 
our  war — not  only  in  number,  but  in  the  ratio  of  loss  to 
the  aggregate  number  engaged. 

The  percentage  of  loss  in  the  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade, 
was  36.7.  Longstreet's  wing  at  Chickamauga  on  the  second 

279 


28O  ECHOES   OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

day,  lost  forty-four  per  cent.  General  Joseph  Wheeler  says 
that  the  loss  on  each  side  at  Shiloh,  amounted  to  about  thirty 
per  cent.  He  says,  "  At  Perry ville,  Murfreesboro,  Chicka- 
raauga,  Atlanta,  Gettysburg,  Missionary  Ridge,  the  Wilder- 
ness, and  Spottsylvania,  the  loss  frequently  reached,  and 
sometimes  exceeded  forty  per  cent.,  and  the  average  in  killed 
and  wounded  on  one  side  or  the  other,  was  over  thirty  per 
cent." 

But  I  think  this  large  loss,  when  it  comes  to  be  analyzed, 
is  not  a  matter  to  boast  of,  except  as  showing  the  bravery  of 
the  rank  and  file.  The  boast  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was 
that  he  could  accomplish  the  objects  of  war  at  small  loss. 

However,  I  suppose  that  a  popular  test  of  efficiency,  and 
perhaps  as  true  a  one  as  is  possible  to  establish,  in  most 
cases,  is  that  of  loss  in  killed  and  wounded.  If  a  regiment 
will  stand  under  fire  until  it  loses  a  large  per  cent,  of  its 
numbers — not  in  missing,  but  in  killed  and  wounded — that 
is  the  best  test  of  its  bravery.  Yet  we  must  remember  that 
at  the  world-renowned  engagement,  the  siege  of  Fort  Sumpter, 
not  a  man  was  lost  on  our  side ;  that  while  the  battles  in 
which  the  killed  and  wounded  were  in  greatest  numbers, 
will  stand  at  the  head  of  the  list,  sometimes  the  most  im- 
portant results,  like  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
opening  of  the  Mississippi  River,  have  been  achieved  with 
small  flow  of  human  blood.  Many  brave  regiments  had  few 
losses,  some  from  what  may  be  called  good  luck  in  not  com- 
ing under  severe  fire,  and  others  from  the  skilful  manage- 
ment of  their  officers  in  battle.  But  I  notice  that  when  a 
writer  at  this  late  day  refers  to  the  war,  he  points  out  as 


OFFICIAL   STATISTICS  28 1 

particularly  worthy  of  glory,  those  regiments  whose  losses 
were  greatest  as  shown  by  the  army  records. 

The  same  test  applies  to  battles.  Gettysburg  stands  on 
the  Union  side,  especially,  at  the  head  in  our  late  war  on 
account  of  great  losses.  The  next  four  in  their  order  are 
the  Wilderness,  Cold  Harbor  (which  General  Grant  said 
was  unnecessary),  Anteitam  (where  McClellan  outnum- 
bered the  enemy,  two  to  one)  and  Chancellorsville.  These 
were  all  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Now  comes  one  of 
our  own,  Chickamauga,  which  by  this  standard,  is  far  ahead 
of  any  other  fought  in  the  west.  Statistics  are  inexorable, 
and  brush  away  many  a  popular  error.  Fredericksburg — 
Burnside's  battle — what  a  slaughter  was  there  !  The  whole 
country  held  up  its  hands  in  horror.  Yet,  in  killed  and 
wounded,  it  did  not  equal  Chickamauga. 

The  Twenty-first  regiment  of  Wisconsin  Volunteers  was  in 
thirteen  general  engagements,  in  each  of  which  the  killed 
and  wounded  on  the  Union  side,  exceeded  500.  Gauged 
by  this  test,  they  rank  as  follows : 

KILLED  AND  WOUNDED 

Chickamauga 10,900 

Stone  River 8,788 

Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  gih  to  June  3oth,  7,870 
Chattanooga,    including    Orchard    Knob, 
Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission- 
ary Ridge 5,296 

Perryville     .     „ 3>%59 

Resacca 2>747 

Dallas,  May  25th  to  June  4th      .       .       .  2,400 

Peach  Tree  Creek 1,710 

Bentonville         ,      .      .      .      .      ,      ,  i>359 


